Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Trinity
by CatDaddy
Summary: What if Xander and Willow had one more friend? What if that friend had a secret? Trinity is a supernatural who'd rather stay off the slayer's radar. When Buffy finds out, what will she do? Rewrite of the series.
1. Welcome To The Hellmouth

Chapter One: Welcome To The Hellmouth

_In every generation there is a Chosen One. She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons and the forces of darkness. She is the Slayer._

* * *

At Sunnydale High School, A fist punches through a windowpane of a classroom and reaches in to undo the clasp. A boy and a girl, sneaking into the school.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" She asks.

The boy smiles. "It's a great idea, now come on." They crawl in and walk out of the classroom, continuing down the hallway.

"Do you go to school here?"

"I used to. On top of the gym it's so cool. You can see the whole town." He continues down the hall, but she stops him close to the intersection.

"I-I don't wanna go up there." She says.

He looks at her. "Aw, you can't wait, huh?"

"We're just gonna get in trouble."

"Yeah, you can count on it." He smirks before leaning in to kiss her but she draws a quick breath, startled and turns her head around to look down the hall.

"What was that?"

"What was what?"

"I heard a noise."

"It's nothing!"

She shakes her head. "Uh, uh, maybe it's something."

"Or maybe it's some _thing._" He teases.

She looks at him. "That's not funny."

He looks down the other hall. "Hellooooo!" His voice echoes. He turns back to the girl. "There's nobody here."

"Are you sure?" She looks away.

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Okay." She turns back to him, vamped out. She releases a growl before biting him. He grunts in pain as they sink to the floor.

* * *

Buffy tosses and turns in bed. She's having the nightmares, with visions of the Master's lair, the cemetery, the Master, of vampires and other demons, various events and artifacts. She wakes with a gasp.

"Buffy?" Joyce calls.

She sits up. "I'm up, Mom!" She yells.

"Don't wanna be late for your first day!"

Buffy sighs. "No." She mutters to herself. "Wouldn't want that."

* * *

Joyce pulls up to the school. "Okay!" She smiles. Buffy gets out. "Have a good time. I know you're gonna make friends right away, just think positive." She gives a thumbs up. Buffy looks through the open car door and gives her mother a quick nod. She turns to go and closes the door behind her. "And honey?" Buffy looks back at her. "Try not to get kicked out?"

"I promise."

"Okay." Joyce smiles.

Buffy faces the school and lets out a deep breath. Joyce drives off.

* * *

Xander bobs and weaves through the crowd on his skateboard. "'Scuse me, comin' through, pardon me, 'scuse me, whoa! 'Scuse me, not sure how to stop! Please move, whoa, 'scuse me…" He trails off as he sees Buffy. "Whoa." He breathes. He doesn't see the stair railing in front of him, too busy staring at the girl. He crashes into it and falls beneath it, grunting in pain. "God!" Willow and Trinity step over his legs. "I'm okay. I feel good." Willow looks down at him, smiling and pulling her hair behind her ear. Trinity rolls her eyes and shakes her head. Xander looks up and sees them. "Willow! You're so very much the person that I wanted to see!" He gets up.

"Hello to you too Xander." Trinity says. He smiles at her.

Willow smiles. "Oh, really?"

"Yeah." He says. "You know, I kinda had a problem with the math."

"Uh, which part?"

"The math." He puts his hands together. "Can you help me out tonight, pleeeease, be my study buddy?"

"Well, what's in it for me?"

"A shiny nickel!"

"Okay. Do you have 'Theories in Trig'? You should check it out."

"Check it out?" He asks.

"From the library? Where the books live." Trinity says.

"Right, I'm there!" He nods. "See, I wanna change."

"I believe you." She laughs.

They enter the school.

"Hey, hey!" A boy calls.

Xander smiles. "Hey, Jesse, what's what?"

"New Girl!"

Xander nods. "That's right, I saw her. Pretty much a hottie!"

"Is that right?" Trinity asks.

"I heard someone was transferring." Willow says.

"So tell!" Xander urges.

"Tell what?" Jesse asks.

"What's the sitch, what do ya know about her?"

Jesse shrugs. "New girl!"

"Well, you're certainly a font of nothing!"

Trinity lays a hand on his arm. "It's okay Jesse, I still love you."

He smiles and wraps an arm around her shoulder.

* * *

Buffy sits in Principal Flutie's office. He walks around his desk, looking at her school record. "Buffy Summers, sophomore, late of Hemery High in Los Angeles. Interesting record, quite a career…" He sits, takes the sheet he's reading and tears it into pieces. Buffy sends him a shocked look. "Welcome to Sunnydale! A clean slate, Buffy, that's what you get here. What's past is past. We're not interested in what it says on a piece of paper, even if it says…" He reads one of the pieces. "Whoa."

"Mr. Flutie-" She starts.

"All the kids here are free to call me Bob."

"Bob-"

"But they don't." He begins reassembling the torn sheet.

"I know my transcripts are a little…colorful."

"Heeey…we're not caring about that. Do you think, uh, 'colorful' is the word?" He taps the paper. "Not, uh, 'dismal'?"

"Wasn't _that _bad!" She defends.

He looks at her. "You burned down the gym."

She sighs in exasperation. "I did, I really did, but…you're not seeing the big picture here, I mean, that gym was full of vampi-" She catches her mistake. "Asbestos."

"Buffy, don't worry. Any other school they might say 'watch your step', or 'we'll be watching you'…but, that's just not the way _here_. We want to service your needs, and help you to respect our needs. And if your needs and our needs don't mesh." He puts the poorly repaired sheet back into her file and slaps it shut. She gives him a thin, nervous smile.

* * *

Buffy comes out of Mr. Flutie's office. She opens her bag and rummages through it as she walks into the hall right in front of a girl and a boy. The girl bumps into her, making her lose her grip on the bag and spill its contents. "Oh! Sorry!"

"That's okay." The girl says.

Buffy looks down at the mess. "Oh…"

Xander hears the noise, looks back, quickly comes over and squats down next to her to help her gather her things. "Can I have you?" He asks. She gives him a confused look. "Uh…" He chuckles. "Can I help you?"

She smiles. "Thanks."

"I don't know you, do I?"

"I'm Buffy. I'm new."

"Xander. Is-is me. Hi." He smiles.

"Um, thanks." They finish gathering up everything.

"Well, uh, maybe I'll see you around…maybe at school…since we…both…go there."

"Great!" They stand up. "It was nice to meet you." She starts down the hall.

Xander frowns and mutters to himself. "We both go to school. Very suave. Very not pathetic." He notices a stake still on the floor. "Oh, hey!" He picks it up. "Hey, you forgot you…" He looks at the object. "Stake." He finishes, confused. Buffy doesn't hear him and continues down the hall. Xander holds on to the stake.

* * *

In a classroom, the teacher writes 'The Black Death' on the board and then turns to the class. "It's estimated that about twenty-five million people died in that one four-year span. But the fun part of the Black Plague is that it originated in Europe how?" She asks. Buffy is seated next to a brunette girl, taking notes. "As an early form of germ warfare. If you'll look at the map on page sixty-three you can trace the spread of the disease into Rome, and then north…"

Buffy doesn't have a book and looks around for help. The girls next to her notices and shares her book. "Thanks." She says.

"And this popular plague led to what social changes? Steve?" The teacher asks.

* * *

The bell rings and the students get up to leave.

"Hi! I'm Cordelia." The brunette offers her hand.

"I'm Buffy." Buffy shakes her hand.

"If you're looking for a textbook of your very own there's probably a few in the library."

"Oh, great, thanks." They get up. "Where would that be?"

"I'll show you, come on." They walk out of the classroom. "So you're from Hemery, right? In L.A.?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Oh, I would _kill _to live in L.A." Cordelia smiles. "That close to that many shoes?" Buffy laughs as they walk down the hallway. "Well, you'll be okay here. If you hang with me and mine, you'll be accepted in no time. Of course, we do have to test your coolness factor. You're from L.A., so you can skip the written, but let's see. Vamp nail polish?"

"Um, over?"

"So over. James Spader?"

Buffy smiles. "He needs to call me!"

"Frappuccino's?"

"Trendy, but tasty."

"John Tesh?"

"The Devil."

"That was pretty much a gimme, but…you passed!"

"Oh, goody!"

They turn toward a drinking fountain. Willow is there. She straightens up and sees them coming.

"Willow! Nice dress! Good to know you've seen the softer side of Sears." Cordelia smiles.

Willow looks down at her outfit. "Uh, oh, well, my mom picked it out."

"No wonder you're such a guy magnet." Cordelia says sarcastically, smile gone. "Are you done?"

Willow looks at the fountain, then back at Cordelia. "Oh!"

Trinity walks up. "Hey Cordelia, why don't you use daddy's money to buy yourself some manners?"

"What did you just say to me?"

"You heard me." Trinity says before turning to Willow. "Let's go." She takes her arms and leads her away.

Cordelia shakes her head. "You wanna fit in here, the first rule is: know your losers. Once you can identify them all by sight…" She looks after them. "They're a lot easier to avoid."

Buffy lets out a nervous laugh and nods. She looks at Willow and Trinity again, who has gone through the door at the end of the hall. Willow looks back at them before she continues.

* * *

Cordelia and Buffy walk to the library. "And if you're not too swamped with catching up you should come by the Bronze tonight."

"The who?" Buffy asks.

"The Bronze. It's the only club worth going to around here. They let anybody in, but it's still the scene. It's in the bad part of town."

"Where's that?" They stop outside the library doors.

"About a half a block from the good part of town." She laughs. "We don't have a whole lot of town here. But, um, you should show!"

"Well, I'll try." She looks towards the library. "Uh, thanks."

"Good. So, um, I'll see you in gym, and you can tell me absolutely everything there is to know about you." She waves before leaving.

Buffy waves back. "Thanks." She mutters to herself. "Oh, that sounds like fun." She goes into the library and looks around. "Hello?" She calls. "Is anybody here?" She looks at the book checkout counter and sees a newspaper. A picture has been circled. 'Local Boys Still Missing.' A man in a tweed suit comes up behind her and taps her on the shoulder. She spins around, startled. "Ooh!" She gasps. "Anybody's here!"

"Can I help you?" He asks.

"I was looking for some, well, books. I'm new."

"Miss Summers?"

"Good call! Guess I'm the only new kid, huh?"

"I'm Mr. Giles. The librarian. I was told you were coming." He heads around behind the counter.

"Great! So, um, I'm gonna need 'Perspectives on 20th Century-"

"I know what you're after!" He interrupts, a large grin on his face as he pulls out a large old book with the word 'VAMPYR' written in gold leaf on the front cover.

Buffy face pales as she gazes at the book with a look of unease. "That's not what I'm looking for."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm _way _sure."

His face curls in confusion. "My mistake." He puts the book back behind the counter. Buffy quickly leaves. He straightens back up. "So, what is it you said…" He sees her leave the library.

* * *

In the locker room, two girls are talking. "The new kid? She seems kind of weird to me. What kind of name is Buffy?"

"Hey, Aphrodisia!" A girl greets.

"Oh, Hey!" She smiles.

"Well, the chatter in the caf is that she got kicked out, and that's why her mom had to get a new job." Another girl says.

The girls work the combinations to their gym lockers. "Neg!"

"Pos! She was starting fights!"

"Neg-ly!"

The girl opens her locker. "Well I heard from Blue, and she said that-" The dead boy falls out of the locker onto the girls arm. She screams and backs away, letting the body fall to the floor.

* * *

At the school quad, Willow and Trinity are sitting on a bench. Willow begins to take out her lunch when Buffy walks up.

"Uh, Hi! Willow, right?" She says.

They look at her. "Why?" Willow asks. "I-I mean, hi! Uh, did you want us to move?"

Trinity looks at her. "We were here first." She says before looking at Buffy. "If she has a problem, she can find her own spot."

"Why don't we start with, 'Hi, I'm Buffy,' and, uh, then let's segue directly into me asking you for a favor." She sits down next to Willow. "It doesn't involve moving, but it does involve hanging out with me for a while."

"But aren't you hanging out with Cordelia?"

"I can't do both?"

Willow shakes her head. "Not legally."

Buffy sighs. "Look, I really wanna get by here…new school…and…Cordelia's been really nice…to me…anyway, but, um, I kinda have this burning desire not to flunk all my classes, and I heard a rumor that you were the person to talk to if I wanted to get caught up."

Willow smiles. "Oh, I could _totally _help you out! Uh, if you have sixth period free we could meet in the library?"

"Or not." Buffy says. "Or we could meet someplace quieter. Louder. Uh, that place just kinda gives me the wiggins."

"Oh, it has that effect on most kids. I love it, though, it's a great collection, and the new librarian is really cool."

"He's new?"

"Yeah, he just started. He was a curator at some British museum, or, or _The _British Museum, I'm not sure. But he knows everything, and he brought all these historical volumes and biographies, and am I the single dullest person alive?"

"Not at all." Buffy smiles.

"I'm Trinity." She says. "Welcome to the losers club, because you just committed social suicide by speaking to us."

Xander hops up onto the wall behind the girls and sits on it between them.

Jesse stands in front of them and drops his bag. "Hey!"

"You guys busy? Are we interrupting? We're interrupting." Xander says, tossing his bag to Jesse.

"Hey!" They girls greet.

"Hey there!" Jesse smiles, dropping Xander's bag next to his own.

"Buffy, this is Jesse and that's Xander." Willow introduces.

"Oh, me and Buffy go waaay back, old friends, very close. Then there's that period of estrangement where I think we were both growing as people, but now here we are, like old times, I'm quite moved." Xander rambles.

"Is it me, or are you turning into a bibbling idiot?" Jesses asks.

"No, it's, uh, it's not you." Xander answers sheepishly.

"Well, it's nice to meet you guys, I think." Buffy says. Xander reaches into his bag.

"Well, you know, we wanted to welcome ya, make ya feel at home, unless you have a scary home." Jesse says, making Trinity laugh.

"And to return this." Xander holds up the stake. "The only thing I can think is that you're building a really little fence." He hands it to her.

Buffy takes it. "Hah, no, um, a-a-actually it was for self-defense. Everyone has them in L.A. Pepper spray is just so _passé_."

"So what do you do for fun, what do you like, what do you look for in a man, let's hear it."

"If you have any dark, painful secrets you'd like us to publish?" Jesse continues.

Buffy gives a nervous laugh. "Gee, everyone wants to know about me. How keen."

"Well, not much goes on in a one Starbucks town like Sunnydale. You're pretty big news." Trinity says.

"I'm not. Really." She says.

Cordelia walks up. "Are these guys bothering you?"

"Uh, no!" Buffy says.

Willow shakes her head, an alarmed look on her face. "She's not hanging out with us."

Jesse moves closer to the girl. "Hey, Cordelia!" He smiles.

She looks at him and scoffs. "Oh, please!" She turns back to Buffy. "I don't mean to interrupt your downward mobility, but I just wanted to tell you that you won't be meeting Coach Foster, the woman with the chest hair, because gym was canceled due to the _extreme_ dead guy in the locker."

"What?" Buffy asks, shocked.

"What are you talking about?" Willow asks.

"Some guy was stuffed in Aura's locker!" She explains.

"Dead." Trinity clarifies.

"Totally dead. Way dead."

"It's not just a little dead, then?" Xander jokes.

Cordelia rolls her eyes at him. "Don't you have an elsewhere to be?"

"Y'know, if you need a shoulder to cry on, or just to nibble on…" Jesse flirts, inching closer to her.

"How did he die?" Buffy asks.

Cordelia shrugs. "I don't know."

"Well, were there any marks?"

"Morbid much! I didn't ask!"

Buffy looks at everyone. "Um, I gotta book. I'll, I'll see you guys later." She grabs her things and leaves.

Cordelia stares after her. "What's her deal?"

They miss the look of concern on Trinity's face.

* * *

Buffy sneaks up to an outside entrance of the gym. She tries to open and discovers that it's locked. She uses her strength to break the door and goes in; looking around to make sure no one sees her. Buffy finds the body and pulls back the sheet. She sees the vampire bite. "Oh, great." She groans.

* * *

Buffy barges into the library. "Okay, what's the sitch?"

Giles steps out of the stacks. "Sorry?"

"You heard about the dead guy, right? The dead guy in the locker?"

"Yes."

She drops her bag on the study table and heads up the stairs. "'Cause, it's the weirdest thing. He's got two little, little holes in his neck, and all his blood's been drained." She walks up to him. "Isn't that bizarre? Aren't you just going, 'ooh'?"

"I was afraid of this."

"Well _I _wasn't! It's my first day! I was afraid that I was gonna be behind in all my classes, that I wouldn't make any friends, that I would have last month's hair. I didn't think there'd be vampires on campus. And I don't care." She says.

"Then why are you here?" He asks.

She loses her steam. "To tell you that…I don't care, which…I don't, and…have now told you, so…bye." She turns to leave.

"Is he, w-will he…rise again?"

She turns back. "Who?"

"The boy."

She shakes her head. "No. He's just dead."

"Can you be sure?"

"To make you a vampire they have to suck your blood. And then you have to suck their blood. It's like a whole big sucking thing. Mostly they're just gonna kill you. Why am I still talking to you?" Buffy turns and goes down the stairs.

Giles moves over to the railing. "You really have no idea what's going on, do you? You think it's coincidence, your being here? That boy was just the beginning."

"Oh, why can't you people just leave me alone?"

"Because you are the Slayer." He walks down the stairs. "Into each generation a Slayer is born, one girl in all the world, a Chosen One, one born with the strength and skill to hunt-"

Buffy interrupts him. "With the strength and skill to hunt the vampires, to stop the spread of their evil blah, blah, blah." She finishes. "I've heard it, okay?"

"I really don't understand this attitude. You, you've accepted your duty, you, you've slain vampires before…"

"Yeah, and I've both been there and done that, and I'm moving on."

"What do you know about this town?" He goes into his office.

"It's two hours on the freeway from Neiman Marcus?"

"Dig a bit in the history of this place. You'll find a, a steady stream of fairly odd occurrences. Now, I believe this whole area is a center of mystical energy…" He comes back, his arms filled with books. "That things gravitate towards it that, that, that you might not find elsewhere." He sets them on the table.

"Like vampires."

He puts the volumes into Buffy's arms one by one as he lists off various monsters and demons. "Like zombies, werewolves, incubi, succubi, everything you've ever dreaded was under your bed, but told yourself couldn't be by the light of day. They're all real!"

"What? You, like, sent away for the Time-Life series?"

"Ah, w-w-w-yes."

"Did you get the free phone?" She asks.

"Um, the calendar."

"Cool! But, okay." She gives him back the books. "First of all, I'm a Vampire Slayer. And secondly, I'm retired. Hey, I know! Why don't you kill 'em?"

"I-I'm a Watcher, I-I haven't the skill…"

"Oh, come on, stake through the heart, a little sunlight…it's like falling off a log."

"A, a Slayer slays, a Watcher-"

"Watches?"

"Yes. No!" He sets down the books. "He, he trains her, he, he, he prepares her-"

"Prepares me for what? For getting kicked out of school? For losing all of my friends? For having to spend all of my time fighting for my life and never getting to tell anyone because I might endanger them? Go ahead! Prepare me." Buffy sighs when he fails to respond. She turns and leaves the library in disgust.

Giles hesitates for an instant. "Damn!" He mutters to himself and rushes after her.

Xander and Trinity walk out from behind the stacks. "What?" He says, not seeing the look of fear and worry on Trinity's face.

* * *

Giles catches up with Buffy. "It's getting worse!"

"What's getting worse?"

He guides her over to the wall and speaks with her in a low voice. "The influx of the undead, the…supernatural occurrences, it's been building for years. There's a reason why you're here and a reason why it's now!"

"Because now is the time my mom moved here." She tries to evade him, but he puts his arm out to stop her.

"Something's coming, something, something…something is, is gonna happen here. Soon!"

"Gee, can you vague that up for me?"

"The signs, as far as I can tell, point to a crucial mystical upheaval, very soon. Days. Possibly less."

"Oh, come on! This is Sunnydale! How bad an evil can there be here?"

* * *

Underground, vampires bearing torches are gathering.

A male vampire kneels on the ground. "The sleeper will wake." He says in a deep voice. "The sleeper will wake. The sleeper will wake. The sleeper will wake, and the world will bleed." He looks up. "Amen!"

* * *

At home, Trinity opens a journal and reads the passage.

_Slayers do not understand us, they never will. We are not human and because of that, they will kill us on sight. They cannot be reasoned with. To try is foolishness that will end with your death._

Trinity looks up, a look of horror on her face. She sets the book down and runs a hand through her hair. She looks at her hand and watches as her nails turn into claws.

* * *

Buffy is in her room trying to figure out what to wear to the Bronze. She holds a shiny black outfit up to the mirror. "Hi! I'm an enormous slut!" She switches with a floral dress. "Hello! Would you like a copy of 'The Watchtower'?" She lowers the dress. "I used to be so good at this."

Her mother comes into the room. "Hi, hon."

Buffy returns her dresses to the closet. "Hey!"

"Are you, uh, going out tonight?" Joyce asks.

"Yeah, I'm going to a club."

"Oh. Will there be boys there?"

Buffy sends her a look. "No, Mom. It's a nun club."

"Well, just be careful."

"I will."

"You know, I think we can make it work here. I've got my positive energy flowing…I'm gonna get the Gallery on its feet…" She trails off. "Oh, uh, we may have found a space today."

"That's great."

"Oh, and that school is a, a very nurturing environment, which is just what you need."

"Well, actually…"

"Oh, not too nurturing. I know, you're sixteen, I've read all about the dangers of over-nurturing." She watches as Buffy goes to her bed and lays out a couple of outfits. "It's hard. New town and everything…it is for me, too. I'm trying to make it work." She takes her daughter's hands in hers. "I'm _going _to make it work."

"I know."

"Oh, you're a good girl, Buffy." She pats her on the head. "You just fell in with the wrong crowd. But that is all behind us now."

"It is. From now on I am only going to hang out with the living." She lets go of her mother's hands and picks up her dresses. "I mean, lively. People." Buffy heads back to her closet with an awkward look on her face.

"Hmm. Okay. You have fun."

* * *

Buffy is walking down a dark street, when someone appears behind her. She senses that she is being followed. After walking for a ways, when she gets a chance she ducks down an alley and looks around for a place to hide. A cat yowls and kicks some cans as it runs away. She spies something above her.

A man comes into the alley but doesn't see her. As he slowly walks along he doesn't see Buffy in a handstand on a bar high above the pavement. As he passes underneath her, she swings down and kicks him in the back. He is knocked to the ground, and Buffy positions herself above him with a foot on his chest.

He laughs. "Is there a problem, ma'am?"

"Yeah, there's a problem. Why are you following me?" She questions.

"I know what you're thinking. Don't worry, I don't bite." He says. She backs off and lets him get up, but keeps her fighting stance. "Truth is, I thought you'd be taller, or bigger muscles and all that. You're pretty spry, though." He massages his neck.

"What do you want?"

"The same thing you do."

She relaxes her stance, letting down her guard. "Okay. What do I want?"

He steps toward her. "To kill them. To kill them all."

"Sorry, that's incorrect. But you do get this lovely watch and a year's supply of Turtle Wax. What I _want_ is to be left alone!" She starts to walks away.

"Do you really think that's an option anymore? You're standing at the Mouth of Hell. And it's about to open." He says. She turns to look at him with a wide-eyed gaze. He reaches into his jacket and pulls out a small box. "Don't turn your back on this." He tosses her the box. "You've gotta be ready."

"What for?"

"For the Harvest."

"Who are you?"

"Let's just say…I'm a friend." He starts to leave.

"Yeah, well, maybe I don't want a friend." She calls after him.

He turns back, still walking. "I didn't say I was yours." He leaves.

Buffy stares after him for a moment, then opens the box. It contains a silver cross and chain. She takes it out, holds it in her hand and takes another glance in his direction.

* * *

Outside the Bronze, people are arriving and meeting. Buffy is wearing the cross around her neck. She walks up to the entrance, gives the doorman some cash and goes in.

The dance floor is crowded as the band plays.

_Oh, I just want to believe_

_Can you hear me?_

_Can you see me?_

_What's inside of me?_

_Oh, I just want to believe_

_If my life can have a purpose_

_Help me to believe_

_Oh, I just want to believe_

_Can you hear me?_

_Can you see me?_

_What's inside of me?_

_Oh, I just want to believe_

_If my life can have a purpose_

_Help me to believe_

Buffy moves to the music a bit. She sees a guy waving in her direction and waves back, then notices someone behind her waving back and pulls her hand down, embarrassed.

_Everybody wants to find the circle_

_The line of truth that has no end_

_Because so many nights I've slept with the feeling of empty_

_And I say, right now I'm ready to believe_

She finds the bar and sees Willow and Trinity sitting there. "Hey!" She greets.

Willow perks up. "Oh, hi!" She smiles. Trinity nods in acknowledgement. Buffy takes a seat on the stool next to Willow. "Hi!"

"Oh, are you guys here with someone?" Buffy asks. "Am I interrupting something?"

Willow shakes her head. "No, we're just here. I thought Xander was gonna show up."

"Oh, are you guys going out?"

"No, we're just friends. We used to go out, but we broke up."

"How come?"

"He stole my Barbie." She sees the confused look on Buffy's face. "Oh, we were five."

Buffy nods. "Oh."

"I-I-I don't actually date a whole lot…lately."

"Why not?"

"Well, when I'm with a boy I like, it's hard for me to say anything cool, or, or witty, or at all. I-I can usually make a few vowel sounds, and then I have to go away."

"It's not _that_ bad!"

"No, i-it is. I think boys are more interested in a girl who can talk."

"You really _haven't_ been dating lately."

"It's probably easy for you."

"Yeah, real easy."

"I-I mean you don't seem too shy."

"Well, my philosophy, do you wanna hear my philosophy?"

"Yeah, I do!" Willow nods eagerly.

"Life is short." Buffy says.

Trinity holds back a laugh. _Don't you know it. _She thinks.

"Life is short!" Willow repeats.

Buffy shrugs. "Not original, I'll grant you, but it's true. You know? Why waste time being all shy and worrying about some guy, and if he's gonna laugh at you. Seize the moment, 'cause tomorrow you might be dead."

"Oh, that's nice!"

Buffy looks at Trinity. "Are you and Jesse dating?" She asks, making Willow laugh.

Trinity smiles. "No. I'm not interested in him…or anyone with a penis."

"Oh." Buffy says, her eyes widening.

"Oh." Trinity nods.

Buffy looks up and sees Giles on the upper level. "Um, I'll be back in a minute." She gets up.

"Oh, tha-that's okay, you don't have to come back." Willow says.

Buffy smiles. "I'll be back in a minute." She walks away.

"Seize the moment." Willow mutters to herself.

"Do you think I scared her off?" Trinity asks.

Willow looks at her. "No way! She seems really nice. I'm sure that she doesn't have a problem with you. And if she does, she'll have to go through me!" She nods.

Trinity smiles. "Thank you Willow." She gets up. "I'm going to head to the bathroom. I'll be back in a minute." Willow nods and Trinity walks away.

* * *

_I feel love with my friends_

_I feel love in my songs_

_If I could just hold love_

_Then all the answers might come_

_I said, oh, if we're all children of God_

_And we just turned away_

_I got a lack of belief_

_I said a world without faith_

_It's time we turn back around_

Buffy walks up to Giles. "So, you like to party with the students. Isn't that kinda skanky?"

He sends her an annoyed look. "Oh, right, this is me having fun. Watching…clown hair prance about is hardly my idea of a party. I'd much rather be at home with a cup of Bovril and a good book."

"You need a personality, stat!"

He points to the crowd below. "This is a perfect breeding ground for vampire activity. It's dark, it's crowded…besides, I knew you were likely to show up, and I have to make you understand-"

"That the Harvest is coming." She says. "I know, your friend told me."

He looks at her, confused. "What did you say?"

"The Harvest. That mean something to you? 'Cause I'm drawing a blank."

"I'm not sure. Uh…w-who told you this?"

"This…guy. Dark, gorgeous in an annoying sort of way. I figured you two were buds."

He shakes his head. "No. The Harvest. Did he say anything else?"

"Something about the Mouth of Hell. I _really_ didn't like him!"

The crowd applauds as the band finishes their song and starts a new one.

Giles moves around Buffy, leans on the railing and looks down at the crowd. "Look at them, throwing themselves about; completely unaware of the danger that surrounds them."

"Lucky them."

"Or perhaps you're right. Perhaps there is no trouble coming; the signs could be wrong. It's not as though you've been having the nightmares."

Buffy doesn't respond.

* * *

"My mom doesn't even _get _out of bed anymore." Cordelia tells her friends. "And the doctor says it's Epstein-Barr. I'm like, pleeease! It's chronic hepatitis, or at least chronic fatigue syndrome. I mean, _nobody_ cool has Epstein-Barr anymore."

Jesse spots Cordelia and comes over. "Hey, Cordelia!"

She rolls her eyes. "Oh, yay, it's my stalker."

"Hey, you, uh, you look great!"

"Well, I'm glad we had this little chat." She dismisses him.

He coughs. "Listen, uh, you know, you wanna dance, you know?"

"With you?"

"Well, uh, yeah."

"Well, uh, no! C'mon, guys." She and her friends walk away.

"Fine! Plenty of other fish in the sea. Oh, yeah, I'm…on the prowl. Witness me prowling!" He tries to save face.

* * *

"I didn't say I'd never slay another vampire." Buffy says. "It's not like I have all these fluffy-bunny feelings for them, I'm just not gonna get way extracurricular with it. You know, if I see one, sure I'll-"

"Will you be ready?" Giles interrupts. "There's so much you don't know about them, about your own powers. A vampire appears to be completely normal until the feed is upon them, only then do they reveal their true demonic visage."

"You're like a textbook with arms, I know this."

"The point is, a Slayer should be able to see them anyway. Without looking, without thinking. Can you tell me if there's a vampire in this building?"

"Maybe…"

"You should know. Even through this mass and this…din, you should be able to sense them. Well, try! Reach out with your mind." Buffy looks around. "You have to hone your senses, focus until the energy washes over you, until you, you feel every particle of-of-"

"There's one." She points.

He looks around. "W-where?"

"Right there, talking to that girl."

"You don't know-"

"Oh, please! Look at his jacket. He's got the sleeves rolled up, and the shirt! Deal with that outfit for a moment."

"It's dated?"

"It's carbon dated. Trust me, only someone living underground for ten years would think that was still the look."

"But you didn't…hone."

Buffy looks closer at the girl. "Oh, no."

Giles looks as well. "Isn't that-"

"Willow."

"What's she doing?"

"Seizing the moment!" She rushes down the stairs.

* * *

Trinity walks out of the bathroom and makes her way through the crowd.

* * *

_We're formed in liquid_

_Pushed out still dripping_

_A world was thrown before my eyes_

Willow is being led out of the Bronze by the vampire.

Giles is at a loss for what to do.

* * *

_Now paint a picture_

_Crayon stick figures_

_With blue-haired people, purple skies_

Trinity walks up to Buffy. "Have you seen Willow? I can't find her." She asks, but Buffy continues on. "Hey!"

* * *

Buffy has lost them. She tries the back. She breaks a leg off of a chair from a stack and begins to walk. After a while Cordelia comes out of the restroom and surprises her. Buffy reacts, grabbing Cordelia by the throat and pushing her up against a wall. "Cordelia!" Buffy says, surprised to see her classmate. She releases her.

"God! What is your childhood trauma?!" Cordelia says. Her entourage appears in the restroom door behind her.

"Have you guys seen Willow? Did she come by here?"

"Why? Do you need to attack her with the stick? Jeez!" Cordelia says. Buffy turns and leaves, not noticing Trinity following behind her. Cordelia turns to her friends. "Excuse me, I have to call _everyone _I have _ever _met, right now."

* * *

Giles catches up with Buffy. "That _was _quick. Well done! I-I need to go to the library. This Harvest thing-"

"I didn't find them!" She says.

He grabs Buffy by the arm and turns her to face him. "The vampire is not dead?"

"No, but my social life is on the critical list."

He lets go of her. "So, what do we do?"

"I'll take care of it!"

"Don't worry. One vampire I can handle." She leaves, walking past Jesse talking to a girl.

"So, um, what did you say your name was?" He asks.

The blonde smiles up at him, it the vampire from earlier. "Darla."

"Darla. You know, I haven't seen you around before. Are you from around here?"

"No, but I have family here."

"Have I met them?"

"You probably will."

* * *

The Master rises out of the pool of blood as Luke kneels and looks on. He steps out of the pool over to Luke and offers his hand.

Luke takes it. "Master!"

"I am weak." He says.

"In the Harvest, he will be restored." Luke quotes.

"The Harvest."

"We're almost there. Soon you'll be free!"

The Master reaches his arm out to test his mystical confines. "I must be ready. I need my strength."

"I've sent your servants to bring you some food."

"Good. Luke?"

"Yes?"

"Bring me something…young."

* * *

Willow and Thomas are walking on the sidewalk next to the cemetery. "Sure is dark." She says.

"It's night."

"Well, that's a dark time, night. Traditionally. I still can't believe I've never seen you at school. Do you have Mr. Chomsky for history?" Thomas ignores her babbling and heads into the cemetery. "Uh, the ice cream bar is this way. It's past Hamilton Street?"

"I know a shortcut." He grabs her hand and leads her into the cemetery.

* * *

Trinity follows Buffy outside the Bronze. "Buffy. Buffy!" She calls.

"I can't right now Trinity."

"Where's Willow?" She asks.

Xander sees them. "Hey, you're leaving already?"

"Oh, Xander!" Buffy says. "Have you seen Willow?"

"Not tonight, no."

"She left with a guy."

"We're talking about Willow, right? Scorin' at the Bronze, work it girl-"

"No, I need to find her. Where would he take her?"

"Why? Oh, hey, I hope he's not a vampire, because then you might have to slay him." He teases.

Buffy is taken aback. "Was there a-a school bulletin? Was it i-in the newspaper? Is there anyone in this town who doesn't know I'm the Slayer?"

"No. I only know that you _think _that you're the Slayer, and the reason why I know that-"

"Well, whatever, it doesn't matter; just tell me, where would Willow go?"

He looks at her. "You're serious!"

"We don't find her and there's gonna be one more dead body in the morning!"

Trinity walks further away. "Follow me!"

They look at her. "You know where she is?" Buffy asks.

"I can smell her." She continues.

"What do you mean you can smell her?" Xander asks.

"Her scent." Trinity says. "Now that we're out of the club, it's easier to follow."

Buffy grabs her arm. "What are you?"

"Nothing you need to worry about." Trinity glares at her. "Now let me go so I can find my best friend."

* * *

Willow and Thomas walk through the cemetery. "Oh, okay, th-this is nice…and scary." She says. "Are you sure this is faster?" They reach a mausoleum.

"Hey! Ever been in one of these?"

"No. Thank you." She turns away.

"Come on." He comes up behind her and pulls her hair back. "What are you afraid of?" He moves in toward her neck. She lets out a yelp as he grabs her and pushes her into the mausoleum.

Willow trips down the stairs and stops up against the stone coffin. She turns around. "That wasn't funny!" She glares at him. Thomas comes down the steps. She backs away from him, against a wall. She trips over some stones. "I think I'm gonna go."

"Is that what you think?" He comes toward her again. She skirts by him, but only because he lets her.

Darla blocks her way out of the mausoleum. "Is this the best you could do?" She asks.

"She's fresh!" Thomas says.

"Hardly enough to share."

"Why didn't you bring your own?"

She sends him a look. "I did."

Jesse stumbles into the mausoleum, holding his neck. "Hey! Wait up!"

"Oh, my God, Jesse!" Willow says.

He is weak from blood loss and collapses. Willow tries to catch him and breaks his fall. "Y'know, you gave me a hickey." He says. Thomas gives Darla a look.

She shrugs. "I got hungry on the way."

"Jesse, let's get outta here!" Willow says.

Darla shakes her head. "Oh, you're not going anywhere."

Willow stands up. "Leave us alone!"

"You're not going anywhere until we've" She vamps out. "_fed_!" Willow screams and falls back down next to Jesse. Buffy, Trinity, and Xander show up.

"Well, this is nice. I-it's a little bare, but a dash of paint, a few throw pillows…call it home!" Buffy moves behind the coffin to draw the vampires away from the others.

Darla looks at her. "Who the hell are you?"

"You mean there's actually someone in this town who doesn't know already? Whew, that's a relief, I'm telling you! Having a secret identity in this town is a job of work."

"Buffy, we bail now, right?" Xander asks.

"Not Yet!" Thomas says.

"Okay, first of all, what's with the outfit? Live in the now, okay? You look like DeBarge!" Buffy says. The vampires close in on her. She turns to Darla. "Now, we can do this the hard way, or…well, actually there's just the hard way."

"That's fine with me!" Darla says.

"Are you sure? Now, this is not gonna be pretty. We're talking violence, strong language, adult content…" Buffy says. Thomas growls. She pulls the chair leg out from inside her shirt. He attacks from behind, but Buffy neatly jams the makeshift stake into his chest. He falls back and turns to ashes. Darla can't believe her eyes. Trinity is the only one who doesn't look surprised. "See what happens when you roughhouse?"

"He was young and stupid!"

"Xander, Trinity, go!" Buffy orders. They gather Willow and Jesses and flee.

"Don't go far!" Darla calls.

Buffy and Darla start to fight. Darla punches high, but Buffy blocks. Darla throws a backhand punch, but Buffy blocks again and follows up with a front snap kick to Darla's stomach. As she leans forward from the pain, Buffy slams her elbow into Darla's back, making her hit the wall and falls to the floor, winded.

"You know, I just wanted to start over. Be like everybody else. Have some friends, y'know, maybe a dog…but, no, you had to come here, you couldn't go suck on some other town." Buffy says.

"Who are you?"

"Don't you know?"

Luke grabs her by the neck from behind. "I don't care!" He throws her across the room. He grabs Darla and lifts her to her feet. "You were supposed to be bringing an offering for the Master! We're almost at Harvest, and you dally with this child!"

"We had someone, but then she came. She killed Thomas. Luke, she's strong." She explains, fear in her voice.

"You go. I'll see if I can handle the little girl." He approaches Buffy as she starts to get up, still a little dazed. Darla quickly climbs the steps, looks back once and runs out of the door. Luke attacks Buffy with a double punch, but she blocks it and delivers a punch to his gut and a hopping front snap kick to his jaw. He steps back, but isn't fazed. "You're strong." He lands a solid backhand fist on her. She goes flying. "I'm stronger!"

* * *

Xander and Trinity are supporting Jesse as they run, Willow helping them.

"We'll get the police; it's just a few blocks up!" Willow says.

A group of vampires stand in front of them. Trinity lets go of Jesse and stand her front of her friend. Her eyes slit and claws grow. She hisses at the vampires.

* * *

"You're wasting my time." Luke says.

Buffy backs away up the stairs toward the exit. "Hey, I had other plans, too, okay?"

Luke shoves the heavy lid off of the coffin. Buffy does a cartwheel onto and over it to avoid it and kicks Luke in the chest with both feet, knocking him down. She grabs the stake from the floor and lunges at Luke, but he is too quick for her, and grabs her by the wrist. "You think you can stop me? Stop us?" He grabs the stake with his other hand and breaks it. Then he grabs her by the shirt. "You have no idea what you're dealing with." He throws Buffy onto the rim of the now open coffin. She rolls off onto the floor, dazed. Luke gets up and starts toward her, quoting scripture. "And like a plague of boils, the race of man covered the Earth."

* * *

Giles is paging through an old volume and stops on a picture of Satan with lightning coming from his hand to a man's.

* * *

"But on the third day of the newest light would come the Harvest. And the blood of men will flow as wine." Luke says.

* * *

The Master is sitting in an intricately carved chair.

* * *

"When the Master will walk among them once more."

* * *

Xander, Willow, Trinity, and Jesse are surrounded by vampires, including Darla. The vampires make a wide berth around Trinity as she hisses and swipes at them with her claws.

* * *

"The Earth will belong to the old ones." Luke continues. "And Hell itself will come to town." He grabs Buffy and growls. He lifts her by the throat and throws her toward the coffin. Buffy flips over in a front layout and lands in the coffin next to a skeleton, and lets out a quick scream, but then remains silent, only breathing. She can't see or hear Luke. She slowly starts to get up. Suddenly Luke jumps up and into the coffin. He smiles. "Amen!" He moves in to bite Buffy.


	2. The Harvest

Chapter Two: The Harvest

Luke tries to bite Buffy, but burns himself on the cross hanging around her neck and jerks back. Buffy seizes the opportunity and push kicks him out of the coffin. She climbs out of it and races outside. She runs to catch up with Willow, Trinity, Xander, and Jesse. She hears a vampire growl, and a scream that follows it.

* * *

Willow is on the ground, a vampire leaning over her. "No! Get off!"

"Hey!" Buffy yells. The vampire looks up, and Buffy snap kicks him off of Willow. He gets up and runs away. Willow is shocked by what she sees. Buffy quickly starts the hunt again. Willow gets up and runs after her.

* * *

Xander is being dragged away by two vampires. Willow appears between two gravestones. "Xander!" She calls. The vampires are distracted. Buffy takes advantage of the opening and jumps in, high punches one and sidekicks the other. She notices a dry branch on a tree and breaks it off. As one of the vampires gets up she plunges the stick into him. Willow rushes over to Xander who's still on the ground. "Xander, are you okay?"

He puts a hand to his head. "Man, something hit me." He looks up. "Trinity!"

* * *

Trinity is on the ground, doing her best to block the kicks of the vampires. She lashes out with her claws and cuts a vampire's leg. He yells, distracting his friend. She reaches out again and claws the other vampire's leg, making him back away. They flee with noticeable limps. She stands from the ground and looks at her friends before her eyes fall to the ground. She runs away.

"Where's Jesse?" Buffy asks.

"I don't know! They surrounded us." Willow says.

"That girl grabbed him and took off." Xander adds.

"Which way?" Buffy questions.

He shakes his head. "I don't know."

She stands up straight and slowly scans the cemetery. "Jesse." She whispers. She looks back at them. "Where's Trinity?"

"I don't know." Willow says. "She tried to fight them but there were too many…her eyes…she had claws!"

"What is she?" Xander asks.

* * *

In the library, the globe up on the stack level is spinning. Giles stops it while he lectures and makes his way down to where Buffy, Willow and Xander are at the study table. "This world is older than any of you know. Contrary to popular mythology, it did not begin as a paradise. For untold eons demons walked the Earth. They made it their home, their…their Hell. But in time they lost their purchase on this reality. The way was made for mortal animals, for, for man. All that remains of the old ones are vestiges, certain magic's, certain creatures."

"And vampires." Buffy adds.

"Okay, this is where I have a problem. See, because we're talking about vampires. We're having a _talk_ with vampires in it." Xander says.

"Isn't that what we saw last night?" Willow asks.

Buffy shakes her head. "No. No, th-those weren't vampires, those were just guys in thundering need of a facial. Or maybe they had rabies. It could have been rabies. A-and that guy turning to dust? Just a trick of light." Xander gives her a look. "That's exactly what I said the first time I saw a vampire. Well, after I was done with the screaming part."

"Oh, I-I need to sit down." Willow says.

Buffy looks at her. "You are sitting down."

"Oh. Good for me."

"So vampires are demons?" Xander asks.

"The books tell the last demon to leave this reality fed off a human, mixed their blood. He was a human form possessed, infected by the demon's soul. He bit another, and another, and so they walk the Earth, feeding…killing some, mixing their blood with others to make more of their kind. Waiting for the animals to die out, and the old ones to return." Giles explains.

"What about Trinity?" Willow asks. "She-she changed, but she was helping us. She was trying to protect us?"

"Changed?" Giles asks. "How so?"

"W-well, she grew claws and her eyes changed. She started hissing at the vampires when they tried to come near us."

"That doesn't sound like a vampire."

"What is she?" Xander asks.

"A neko." They turn and see Trinity at the library doors. She walks further into the room. "I'm a neko." She sees Buffy stand up. "Relax; I'm not going to hurt you." She looks at Willow and Xander. "I'm still the same person you grew up with. I just have a few…" A black tail creeps out from behind her, making their eyes widen. "Secrets."

"A neko." Giles says, going to the stack to grab a book. He walks back over. "You're of the felis catus group, not particularly threatening, but capable of great damage if you don't control yourself."

"I've been controlling myself for 16 years." Trinity says. "I'm not going to go crazy now."

"A cat?" Xander says. "You're a cat." Trinity waves her claws at him, a grimace on her face.

"Tree!" Willow says, making them look at her in confusion. "When we were seven, you bet Jesse that you could climb the highest tree at the park, but a branch broke and you fell."

"You landed on your feet." Xander finishes. "I guess that is true."

Trinity looks at Buffy. "I've never hurt anyone in my life, so don't get all slay happy just because I'm not completely human."

* * *

Down in the sewers, Darla and Luke are forcing Jesse into the Master's lair.

"Move!" Luke orders. They reach the lair, which is actually what remains of a church, and he forces Jesse down the slope to the floor below.

The Master approaches. "Is this for me?"

"An offering, Master."

"He's a good one! His blood is pure!" Darla says.

The Master looks at her. "You've tasted it." He says. Darla looks down in shame. "I'm your…faithful dog. You bring me scraps."

"I, I didn't mean it-"

"I have waited. For three score years I have waited. While you come and go I am stuck here, here in this house of…worship!" He spits out in contempt. "My ascension is almost at hand. Pray that when it comes…" He wraps a hand around Darla's neck. "I'm in a better mood."

"Master, forgive me! We had more offerings, but there was trouble. A girl!"

"And there was a girl." Luke explains. "She fought well and she knew of our breed. It is possible that she may be-"

"A Slayer!" The Master says.

* * *

"And that would be a what?" Xander asks.

"For as long as there have been vampires, there's been the Slayer. One girl in all the world, a Chosen One." Giles explains.

"He loves doing this part." Buffy says.

Giles sighs. "Alright. The Slayer hunts vampires, Buffy is a Slayer, don't tell anyone. Well, I think that's all the vampire information you need."

"Except for one thing; how do you kill them?" Xander asks.

Buffy looks at him. "_You _don't, _I _do."

"Well, Jesse's my-"

"Jesse is _my _responsibility. I let him get taken."

"That's not true." Trinity says, sad that she couldn't protect her friend.

"If you hadn't shown up they would have taken us, too." Willow says. "Does anybody mind if I pass out?"

Buffy looks at her. "Breathe."

"Breathe."

"Breathe." She turns to Giles. "This big guy, Luke. He talked about an offering to the Master. Now, I don't know what or who, but if they weren't just feeding then Jesse may still be alive. I'm gonna find him."

"Uh, this may be the dumb question, but shouldn't we call the police?" Willow asks.

"And they'd believe us, of course." Giles says, sarcastically.

"Well, we don't have to say vampires. We, we could just say that there's a, a bad man."

"They couldn't handle it even if they did show up." Trinity says.

Buffy nods. "They'd only come with guns."

"You have no idea where they took Jesse?" Giles asks.

Buffy shook her head. "I looked around, but soon as they got clear of the graveyard, they could have just, voom!"

"They can fly?" Xander asks.

"They can drive."

"Oh."

"I don't remember hearing a car." Willow says.

"I was too distracted to get a lock on his scent." Trinity says.

"Let's take an enormous intuitive leap, shall we, and say they went underground." Giles speaks.

"Vampires really jam on sewer systems. You can get anywhere in the entire town without catching any rays." Buffy explains. "But I didn't see any access around there."

"Well, there's an electrical tunnel that runs under the whole town." Xander says.

Giles nods. "If we had a diagnostic of the tunnel system it might indicate a, a meeting place, it would, uh…I suppose we could go to the building commission."

"We _so_ don't have time." Buffy says.

Willow speaks up. "Uh, guys? There may be another way."

* * *

"A Slayer!" The Master says. "Have you any proof?"

"Only that she fought me, and yet lives." Luke says.

"Hmm, very nearly proof enough. I can't remember the last time that happened."

Luke looks down, ashamed. "1843. Madrid. He caught me sleeping."

"She mustn't be allowed to interfere with the Harvest!"

"I would never let that happen!"

"Don't worry about it. I believe she'll come to us. We have something she wants." The Master says. Luke looks at Jesse with a smirk on his face. "If she is a Slayer, and this boy lives, she'll try to save him."

"I thought you nothing more than a meal, boy." He moves behind Jesse and takes his neck. "Congratulations, you've just been upgraded. To bait."

"There's another with her." Darla speaks. "A girl. She's a neko."

"Oh!" The Master says. "It's been so long since I've seen one. I could do with a pet."

* * *

Willow has the city plans on the computer monitor.

"There it is." Buffy says.

Trinity looks at it. "That runs under the graveyard."

"I don't see any access." Xander says.

"So, all the city plans are just, uh, open to the public?" Giles asks.

Willow's eyes widen. "Um, well, i-in a way. I sort of stumbled onto them when I accidentally decrypted the city council's security system."

"Someone's been naughty." Xander teases.

Buffy sighs. "There's nothing here, this is useless!"

Giles looks at her. "I think you're being a bit hard on yourself."

"You're the one that told me that I wasn't prepared enough. Understatement!" She gives an exasperated sigh. "I thought I was on top of everything, and then that monster, Luke, came out of nowhere…" She pauses in thought.

"What?" Trinity asks.

"He didn't come out of nowhere. He came from behind me. I was facing the entrance, he came from behind me, and he didn't follow me out. The access to the tunnels is in the mausoleum! The girl must have doubled back with Jesse after I got out! God! I am _so_ mentally challenged!"

"So, what's the plan? We saddle up, right?" Xander asks, Trinity nodding.

"There's no 'we', okay? I'm the Slayer, and you're not."

"I knew you'd throw that back in my face."

"Xander, this is deeply dangerous."

"I'm inadequate. That's fine. I'm less than a man."

"Buffy, I'm not anxious to go into a dark place full of monsters. But I do want to help. I need to." Willow says.

"I can help too." Trinity says. "I see well in the dark and hopefully I can pick up a scent. I wasn't much help last night, but I was too busy trying to avoid being kicked in the face."

"Well, then help me. I've been researching this Harvest affair. It seems to be some sort of preordained massacre. Rivers of blood, Hell on Earth, quite charmless. I'm a bit fuzzy, however, on the details. It may be that you can wrest some information from that dreaded machine." Giles says. Everyone stares at him. "That was a bit, um, British, wasn't it?"

Buffy smiles. "Welcome to the New World."

He turns to Willow. "I want you to go on the 'Net."

"Oh, sure, I can do that." She begins to type.

"Then I'm outta here. If Jesse's alive, I'll bring him back." Buffy starts to leave.

"Do I have to tell you to be careful?" Giles says. Buffy turns back, giving him a look before continuing.

* * *

Buffy strides to the side gate.

Mr. Flutie is there and stops her. "And where do we think we're going?"

"We?" She turns to face him. "I…me…"

"We're not leaving school grounds, are we?"

"No! No, I'm…just admiring the fence. You know, this is quality fence work."

"Because if we were leaving schools grounds on our second day at a new school, after getting kicked out of our old school for delinquent behavior…do you see where I'm going with this?"

"Mr. Giles…" She trails off.

"What?"

"He asked me to get a book for him. Uh, from the store, 'cause I have a free period, and I'm a big reader. Did it mention that in my transcripts?"

"Mr. Giles?"

"Ask him."

He closes the gate. "Well, maybe that's how they do things in _Britain_, they've got that royal family and all kinds of problems." He locks it. "But here at Sunnydale nobody leaves campus while school's in session. Are we clear?"

"We're clear."

"That's the Buffy Summers I want in my school. Sensible girl with her feet on the ground!" He turns and leaves.

Buffy watches him go. When he's gone a ways she crouches and leaps over the fence.

* * *

Willow, Trinity, and Xander walk down a hall. "Murder, death, disaster. What else?" Willow asks.

"Paranormal, unexplained, did you get natural disasters?" Xander asks.

"Earthquake, flood."

"Rain of Toads."

"Right."

"Rain of Toads! Do you think they'd have anything like that in the paper?"

"I'll put it on the computer search. If it's in there, it'll turn up. Anything that'll lead us to vampires."

"And I, in the meantime, will help by standing around like an idiot."

"Not like an idiot, just…standing. Buffy doesn't want you getting hurt." They stop in front of their next class. "I don't want you getting hurt." She says, looking between him and Trinity.

"This is just too much. I mean, yesterday my life's like, 'Uh-oh, pop quiz.' Today it's 'Rain of Toads'."

"I know. And everyone else thinks it's just a normal day."

"Nobody knows. It's like we've got this big secret."

"We do. That's what a secret is, when you know something other guys don't."

He turns to Trinity. "And you knew."

She shrugs. "I'm a cat. I stay out of things that don't involve me."

"Right. Look, maybe you should get to class." He motions towards the door.

"You mean 'we'. We should get to class." Willow says.

"Yeah."

"Buffy'll be okay. Whatever's down there, I think she can handle it."

He nods. "Yeah, I do, too."

"So do I!"

Trinity shares a look with Xander.

* * *

Buffy walks into the mausoleum slowly. She scans around. Satisfied that no one's there, she walks down the steps to the floor. She hears a rat behind her and twists to look toward the sound. She continues and finds the tunnel access. It's locked with a chain. She lifts the lock.

The man from the night before appears behind her. He sighs.

She turns to look at him. "I don't suppose you've got a key on you?"

"They really don't like me dropping in." He says.

"Why not?"

"They really don't like me."

"How could that possibly be?"

"I knew you'd figure out this entryway sooner or later. Actually, I thought it was gonna be a _little_ sooner."

"Sorry you had to wait." She sighs. "Okay. Look, if you're gonna be popping up with this Cryptic Wise Man act on a regular basis, can you at least tell me your name?"

"Angel."

"Angel. It's a pretty name." She turns to the tunnel entrance.

"Don't…go down there."

She turns back. "Deal with my going."

"You shouldn't be putting yourself at risk. Tonight is the Harvest. Unless you can prevent it, the Master walks."

"Well, if this Harvest thing is such a suckfest, why don't _you_ stop it?"

"'Cause I'm afraid." He answers honestly. She looks at him for a moment and then spins around quickly, kicking open the doors to the tunnel. She turns back to him. "They'll be expecting you."

"I've got a friend down there. Or at least a potential friend. Do you know what it's like to have a friend?" He lowers his eyes as a look of sadness fills them. "That wasn't supposed to be a stumper."

They look at each other a moment longer. "When you hit the tunnels head east towards the school. That's where you're likely to find them."

"You gonna wish me luck?"

He doesn't respond. They look at each other for another moment, then Buffy turns and heads into the tunnels. He watches her go. "Good luck." He whispers.

* * *

Inside the tunnels, Buffy comes down a flight of stairs. She looks around. She hears rats. One crawls across her shoes. She slowly starts down the tunnels. There are lights at regular intervals. When she reaches an intersection, Xander and Trinity surprise her from behind.

"Did you see anything?" He asks.

She gasps in fright. "What are you guys doing here?!"

"Something stupid." Xander says.

"We followed you." Trinity adds.

"Well, you-" Buffy starts.

"We couldn't just sit at home and do nothing."

"I understand. Now, go away!"

"No!" Xander says.

"You're gonna have to."

"Look, Jesse's our bud, okay? If we can help him out, that's what we gotta do." He argues. Buffy considers, then nods her head for them to follow. She starts down the tunnel again. "Besides, it's this or chem class." They reach the top of some stairs. "Okay, so, crosses, garlic, stake through the heart."

Buffy nods. "That'll get it done."

"Cool! Of course, I don't actually have any of those things."

Buffy hands him a cross. "Good thinking." She turns to Trinity. "What about you?"

Trinity holds up her claws. "I'm good." She says. "It's not exactly a stake but I'm pretty sure that vampires will slow down after having their throat ripped out."

Xander looks at her for a moment before speaking again. "Well, the part of my brain that would tell me to bring that stuff is still busy telling me not to come down here. I have this, though." He turns on a flashlight.

"Turn that off!" Buffy urges.

He quickly turns it off. "Okay! Okay! So, what else?"

"What else what?"

"For vampire slayage."

"Oh, fire, beheading, sunlight, holy water, the usual."

"You've done some beheading in your time?"

"Oh, yeah." She nods. "There was this time I was pinned down by this guy that played left tackle for varsity…well, at least he used to before he was a vampire…anyway, he had this really, really thick neck, and all I had was a little, little Exact-O knife." Xander laughs nervously. She looks at him. "You're not loving this story."

"No, actually, I find it oddly comforting."

"I'd like to hear more." Trinity says.

* * *

Giles is reading from a volume. "For they will gather and be gathered. From the Vessel pours life. P… Pours life…" He turns the page back to the picture of Satan feeding power to a man. "On the night of the crescent moon, the first past the solstice it will come…" His eyes fill with realization. "Of course. That's tonight!"

* * *

In the computer lab, Cordelia is struggling with her computer programming assignment. "No! It's supposed to find the syntax and match it. Or wait…"

"Are we going to the Bronze tonight?" Harmony asks.

"No, we're going to the other cool place in Sunnydale." Cordelia say sarcastically. She sees the confused look on Harmony's face. "Of course we're going to the Bronze. Friday night? No cover? But you should have been there last night. 'Cause I ran into Buffy…" Willow overhears the conversation. "And can she be any weirder? She attacked me! Do you believe it?"

Harmony sighs. "I think we did this part wrong."

"Why do we have to devise these programs, isn't that what nerds are for?" She motions toward Willow. "What'd she do?" She whispers.

Harmony looks at Willow's screen and sees she's surfing a newspaper archive website. She turns back to Cordelia. "Uh, she's doing something else."

"Okay, and then pattern run, right? Or go to end? That's it!"

"Maybe!"

"So anyway, I come outta the bathroom, and she comes running at me. Screaming! With a stick! 'I'm gonna kill you! I'm gonna kill you!' I swear!"

A boy leans in, joining the conversation. "Who?"

"Buffy!"

"The new girl?" Harmony says.

"What's her deal?"

"Well, she's crazed." Cordelia tells him.

"Did you hear about her old school?" Harmony asks. Cordelia and the boy both shake their heads. "Booted."

"Well, I exhibit no surprise."

"Why was she kicked out?" The boy asks.

"Uh, because she's a psycho loony!" Cordelia says.

Willow speaks up. "No, she's not."

Cordelia looks at her. "What?"

Willow turns to them. "She's not a psycho. You don't even know her."

"Excuse me? Who gave you permission to exist?" She snaps. Willow turns away, eyes down. "Do I horn in on your private discussions? No. Why? Because you're boring."

Willow gets up and goes to get her printouts.

"Okay, I think the program's done." Harmony says.

Cordelia sighs in relief. "Finally the nightmare ends! Okay, so how do we save it?"

"Deliver." Willow says.

"Deliver? Where's that?" She searches the keyboard. "Oh!" She hits the 'Del' key, and her program disappears. She stares at the screen in wide-eyed, open-mouthed horror.

* * *

"They're close." Buffy says.

"How can you tell?" Xander asks.

"No more rats."

Trinity stops. "I smell something."

Xander turns on his flashlight and spots Jesse on the ground. "Jesse!"

"Oh, no!" Buffy says. Jesse reacts and jumps up.

"J-J-Jesse!"

"Xander!" He says. The two boys embrace.

"Jesse, man, are you okay?"

"I am not okay, on an _epic_ scale." He tells them.

Trinity brows furrow as she breathes through her nose. _Vampire. _She looks at her friend. _But he's been kidnapped by a group of them. Their scents are all over the place. I must be wrong. _She thinks, unwilling to face the truth.

Buffy shines the light on the shackles around Jesse's ankle. "We gotta get outta here!" He says.

"It's cool, Buffy's a superhero." Xander says. "And Trinity has some super kitty powers."

"Hold on." Buffy kneels down and breaks the shackles.

"Do you think anyone heard that?" He asks. They see shadows moving on the walls and start to run down the tunnel. Vampires come around the corner.

"They knew you were gonna come. They said that I… I was the bait." Jesse tells them.

Trinity rolls her eyes. "Oh, great, now you tell us." They round a corner and are met by vampires.

"Oops!" Buffy says.

Jesse backs away. "Oh, no, no, no, no!"

"Do you know another way out?"

"I dunno. Maybe. C'mon!" He leads them to another intersection they see glowing eyes to their right. "Wait, wait. They brought me through here, there, there should be a way up. I hope!" Jesse leads them into a chamber.

Buffy looks around. "I don't think this is the way out!"

"We can't fight our way back through those things." Trinity says.

"What do we do?" Xander asks.

"I got an idea." Jesse says from behind them. They turn around to see that his face is vamped out. "You can die!"

Trinity's eyes fill with tears.

Xander shakes his head. "Jesse, man. I'm sorry."

"Sorry? I feel good, Xander! I feel strong! I'm connected, man, to everything!" Jesse smiles. Buffy begins struggling with the door, trying to close it. "I, I can hear the worms in the earth!"

"That's a plus."

"I know what the Master wants. I'll serve his purpose. That means you die. And I feed."

Buffy looks back at them. "Xander, the cross!"

He holds the cross up to Jesse's face, making him step back and growl. "Jesse, man. We're buds, don't you remember?" He pleads.

"You're like a shadow to me now."

"Then get outta my face."

Jesse knocks Xander's arm to the side, making him hit the wall. Trinity grabs Jesse and throws him out of the chamber into the advancing vampires, knocking them all down. She begins to help Buffy close the door. "Xander!" She calls. Xander gets up and helps them. Together they get it to move. They close it on a vampire's arm. The vampire pulls its arm back out of the door, and Buffy slams it shut and closes the latch. The vampires begin pounding on the door.

"We need to get out of here!" Buffy says.

"There is no out of here!" He uses his flashlight to look around and spots a grate in the ceiling. "Up there!"

Trinity leaps on top of a barrel and begins to pry the grate open. The vampires have started to bend in a corner of the door. They twist it and push it in further. She finally gets the grate open. "Let's go!" She crawls out and sticks and arm out. Xander grabs on and crawls up into a ventilation duct.

A vampire starts to struggle through the bent corner of the door. He reaches in and pulls the latch open as Xander gets through the grate. Buffy follows him quickly as the first vampire enters the chamber. He follows them through the grate into the duct. The three teens quickly make their way through the duct. Trinity finds a ladder up to a manhole and starts climbing the rungs. Xander and Buffy follow. The vampire is right behind them. Trinity pushes open the manhole cover and climbs out into daylight. She turns to help Xander out. As they're helping Buffy out, the vampire grabs her ankle and tries to pull her back down.

"Pull!" She says. They pull on her and the vampire's hand is exposed to the sunlight and burns. The vampire lets go, and they tumble backward to the ground.

* * *

"She escaped?" The Master yells. "She walks free when I should be drinking her heart's blood right now? Careless…"

"Master, we had her trapped!" A vampire says.

"Oh, are you going to make excuses?" The vampire remains silent. "You are all weak. It has been too long since you have faced the Slayer. Huh. It is no matter to me. She will not stop the Harvest. Just means there'll be someone worth killing…when I reach the surface. Is Luke ready?"

"He waits."

"It's time. Bring him to me." The vampire turns to go get look. "Ah, Colin…" Colin turns back. "You failed me. Tell me you're sorry."

He bows his head. "I'm sorry."

"There. That wasn't so bad, was it? Hold on…" He stabs his finger into Colin's face. "You've got something in your eye."

* * *

Giles is still doing his research when he hears someone come in. "Buffy?" He looks up, only to see Willow.

"It's just me." She says. "So there's no word?"

"Ah, not as yet, no."

"Well, I-I'm sure they're… great."

"Did you find anything of interest?"

"I think, maybe… I surfed through the old newspapers around the time of that big earthquake back in '37? And for several months before there were a rash of murders." She hands him her printouts.

"Great! I-I mean, well, not, not 'great' in a good way, uh, um, uh, go on?"

"Well, they sound like the kind you were looking for." She flips through the pages. "Throats, blood…" She squirms uncomfortably.

"It's all coming together. I rather wish it weren't."

* * *

Luke approaches the Master and kneels before him. The Master offers his hand. Luke takes it and kisses it. He releases it and the Master turns it over to offer the underside of his wrist. Darla is watching and smiles. Luke opens the cuff of the Master's sleeve and pulls it back. He takes his hand again, sinks his fangs into the wrist above it and drinks of the blood. He releases the hand, and the Master takes it back.

"My blood is your blood. My soul is your soul." The Master says.

Luke bows his head. "My body is your instrument."

The Master steps down to Luke and begins to draw a three-pointed star on Luke's forehead with the blood still flowing from his wrist. "On this… most hallowed night… we are as one. Luke is the Vessel!" He says. Darla's smile widens.

"Every soul he takes will feed me. And their souls will grant me the strength to free myself. Tonight I shall walk the Earth, and the stars themselves will hide!"

* * *

Willow is looking at one of Giles' volumes. She hears the door open and looks up to see Xander, Trinity, and Buffy come in. "Did you find Jesse?" She asks.

"Yeah." Trinity says, a grim look on her face.

Willows face falls. "Was he dead?"

"Worse." Buffy sits at the end of the table. "I'm sorry, Willow. We were too late. And they were waiting for us."

"At least three are okay."

Xander violently kicks a waste basket, making Buffy jump in shock. "I don't like vampires. I'm gonna take a stand and say they're not good." He says.

Buffy turns to Giles. "So, Giles! Got anything that can make this day any worse?"

He goes over to the whiteboard and puts down his pen. "How about the end of the world?"

She nods. "Knew I could count on you."

"This is what we know. Some sixty years ago, a very old, very powerful vampire came to this shore, not just to feed."

"He came 'cause this town's a mystical who's it."

"Yes. The Spanish who first settled here called it 'Boca del Inferno'. Roughly translated, 'Hellmouth'. It's a sort of, um, portal between this reality and the next. This vampire hopes to open it."

"Bring the demons back." Trinity says.

Xander nods. "End of the world."

"But he blew it!" Willow speaks. "Or, I mean, there was an earthquake that swallowed half the town, and him, too."

"You see, opening dimensional portals is a tricky business. Odds are he got himself stuck, rather like a, uh, cork in a bottle." Giles explains.

"And this Harvest thing is to get him out." Trinity concludes.

Giles nods. "It comes once in a century, on this night. The Master can draw power from one of his minions while it feeds. Enough power to break free and open the portal. The minion is called the Vessel, and he bears this symbol." He draws a three-pointed star on the whiteboard.

"So, I dust anyone sporting that symbol, and no Harvest." Buffy says.

"Simply put, yes."

"Any idea where this little get-together is being held?"

"There, there are a number of possibilities."

"They're goin' to the Bronze." Xander says.

Willow looks at him. "Are you sure?"

"Come on. All those tasty young morsels all over the place? Anyway, that's where Jesse's gonna be, trust me."

Giles grabs his coat and starts out of the library. The others begin to follow. "Then we should get there. The sun will be down before long."

"I gotta make a stop. Won't take long." Buffy says.

Giles looks at her. "What for?"

"Supplies."

* * *

It is close to sunset. Buffy is in her room. She goes to her closet and pulls out a heavy, black jacket.

Her mother walks into the room. "Buffy?"

She turns around. "Mom!"

"You're going out?"

"I have to." She puts on her jacket.

"I didn't hear you come in last night."

"I was really quiet."

"It's happening again, isn't it? I got a call from your new principal. Says you missed some classes today?"

"I was running an errand."

Joyce sighs. "We haven't finished unpacking, and I'm getting calls from the principal."

"Mom, I promise, it is _not_ gonna be like before. But I _have_ to go."

"No."

"Mom?!"

"The tapes all say I should get used to saying it. No."

"This is _really_, really important."

"I know. If you don't go out it'll be the end of the world. Everything is life or death when you're a sixteen-year-old girl."

"Look, I don't have time to talk about this…"

"Buffy, you've got all the time in the world, you're not going anywhere. Now, if you wanna stay up here and sulk, I won't hold it against you. But if you wanna come down, I'll make us some dinner."

She leaves the room, pulling the door closed behind her. Buffy can't believe what just happened. She leans against the closet door, takes a deep breath and exhales. Then she turns and opens the closet again and pulls out a large chest. It has a flat box in it full of her stuff. She lifts out the box to reveal what's underneath. Stakes, crosses, garlic, bottles of holy water. She pulls a bunch out and puts it in her sports bag. She takes a particularly sharp stake and conceals it in her jacket sleeve. She closes the chest, zips the bag closed and goes over to her door to make sure her mother isn't nearby. Then she grabs the bag, slides it out of the window onto the roof and climbs out after it.

* * *

The sun goes down.

* * *

At the Bronze, the doorman is checking ID's.

Inside, Cordelia and her friends find a table. "Senior boys are the only way to go. Guys from our grade, forget about it, they're children. Y'know?" She says as they sit. "Like Jesse. Did you see him last night, following me around like a little puppy dog." They all giggle. "You just wanna put him to sleep. But senior boys, hmm, they have mystery. They have…what's the word I'm searching for? Cars! I just am not the type to settle. Y'know? It's like when I go shopping. I have to have the most expensive thing. Not because it's expensive, but because it costs more."

"You know, I-" One of the girls tries to speak but Cordelia interrupts her.

"Hello, Miss Motormouth, can I get a sentence finished? Oh, I love this song! Come on!" Cordelia and her gang make their way to the dance floor and start to move to the sound of the music.

_You fight the good fight_

_You fight the good war_

_You fight to be right_

_You fight to restore_

_Why should I believe a word that you say_

_It was just a game that you don't wanna play_

_And I say_

_It's wearing me down, I realize_

_It's all in my head now, now, and I realize_

_It's not what you've done_

_As much as what you've said_

_As what you've said_

_As what you've said_

_As what you've said_

Jesse watches Cordelia from the side. He walks onto the dance floor. The song is over, and Cordelia stops dancing. She starts to leave, but Jesse is standing in front of her, fingers on his lips.

She rolls her eyes. "Uh, what do you want?" Another song starts. Jesse lowers his hand, takes hers and leads her back onto the dance floor. "Hey! Hello! Caveman brain! What are you doing?"

"Shut up." He begins to dance with her.

Cordelia looks at him. "Well, just one dance." They dance close.

* * *

Outside, the doorman is counting money.

Darla comes out of the shadows in a bouncy walk. She turns around and walks backward while other vampires come into the light behind her. She turns back again and approaches the doorman. They're all sporting their game faces.

_How are you feelin'?_

_Do you feel okay?_

_'Cause I don't!_

The vampires head in.

"Need ID." The doorman looks up. "Hey! Nobody gets inside until I get some sorta-"

Luke growls in the doorman's face. "Get inside." The vampires come in, pushing the doorman in with them. The last one shuts the door and stands guard.

_How are you feelin'?_

_Do you feel okay?_

_'Cause I don't!_

One of the vampires makes his way to the upper level. Another one finds the main power switch and shuts it off. The people start complaining and wondering what happened.

Luke steps onto the stage. "Ladies and Gentlemen! There is no cause for alarm. Actually, there is cause for alarm. It just won't do any good." There are screams from the crowd as they see Luke's face. He laughs.

"I thought there wasn't any band tonight." Cordelia says. She looks at Jesse next to her. He's got his game face on, and she gasps in fright.

"This is a glorious night! It is also the last one any of you shall ever see. Bring me the first." Luke orders. A vampire brings the doorman to him.

"What do you guys want, man, huh? You want money?" The doorman asks and looks closer at them. "Man, what's wrong with your faces?"

Luke grabs him by the throat. He wraps his other arm around the doorman's head. "Watch me, people. Fear is like an elixir. It's almost like blood." He bites the doorman and feeds on him. The doorman screams.

* * *

The Master raises his head as he feels the first of the souls that will be taken for him.

* * *

Luke drops the doorman's body. "Next!"

* * *

Outside, the Scooby Gang arrives.

Buffy tries the door. "It's locked!"

"We're too late!" Giles says.

"Well I didn't know I was gonna get grounded!"

"Can you break it down?" Trinity asks.

Buffy shakes her head. "No, not that thing. Um…you guys try the back entrance, and I'll find my own way."

Giles nods. "Right. Come on." They start to leave but Buffy calls them.

"Um, wait! Guys! Here!" She hands Willow her bag. "You get the exit cleared and the people out. That's all! Don't go Wild Bunch on me."

"Uh, see you inside, then." Trinity says before they run around to the back.

Willow tries the door. It's locked, as well. "No joy!"

"We've gotta get in there before Jesse does something stupider than usual." Xander says.

Giles looks at him. "You listen to me! Jesse is dead! You have to remember that when you see him, you're not looking at your friend. You're looking at the thing that killed him."

* * *

The Master is testing his confines.

* * *

Luke feeds on a girl.

* * *

"Almost free!" The Master says.

* * *

Luke continues to feed on the girl.

* * *

"Give me moooooore!" The Master yells.

* * *

Luke, finished with the girl, drops her body.

Darla tries to take Cordelia but Jesse keeps a hold on her. "This one's mine!"

"They're all for the Master." She pulls on Cordelia.

Jesse lets go of her. "I don't get one?"

* * *

Buffy breaks an upper window and crawls in. She sees Luke on the stage.

"I feel the Master's strength growing!" Luke says. "I feel him rising. Every soul brings him closer! I need another!"

"The Vessel." She whispers to herself. The vampire on the upper level sees Buffy and growls. She looks over at him.

"Tonight is his ascension. Tonight will be history at its end! Yours is a glorious sacrifice! Degradation most holy." Luke continues. No one in the crowd moves. "What? No volunteers?!"

Darla brings him Cordelia. "Here's a pretty one."

Cordelia screams when she sees Luke up close. He caresses her face. He's about to bite her when Buffy kicks the vampire down from above them. Luke watches him land with a thud.

Buffy approaches the railing. "Oh, I'm sorry, were you in the middle of something?"

He glares at her. "You!"

"You didn't think I'd miss this. Did you?"

"I hoped you'd come."

"Be right down." She steps away from the railing and executes a round off to get down. She lands on a pool table. A vampire attacks from her right. Buffy does a front walkover off of the table, grabbing a pool cue on the way. When she lands she thrusts it into her attacker and lets go. He begins to fall and burst into ashes. "Okay, Vessel boy." She takes off her jacket. "You want blood?"

"I want yours!" He releases Cordelia. "_Only_ yours!"

Buffy shrugs. "Works for me." She runs and cartwheels up onto the stage, and immediately launches into a full spinning hook kick. Luke staggers into a pile of chairs.

Buffy assumes a fighting position. Luke gets up and growls. He comes at her and swings, but she ducks the punch and comes up behind him. He tries a backhand punch, but she blocks him, holds onto his arm and gives him three roundhouse kicks to his stomach before he shakes loose. She takes her stake and lunges at him. He blocks the lunge, knocking the stake from her grip. He lifts her up and throws her into a pile of boxes.

* * *

At the back of the Bronze, Giles, Willow, Trinity, and Xander break in.

"Hurry!" Giles quietly calls to the people, urging them out the door.

Xander runs in to see what's going on. He sees Buffy is down. She gets up, so Xander turns his attention to the crowd. "C'mon! Let's go! C'mon! C'mon! C'mon! C'mon!" He orders in a low voice.

"Hurry up! Come on! Through this door! Come on! This way!" Trinity says quietly.

Buffy spins around and lands a backhand punch on Luke's face, knocking him into another pile of stuff. He's dazed. Buffy turns to see a vampire grab Xander. She grabs a cymbal from a drum set and throws it at the vampire like a Frisbee. Xander sees it coming and ducks. The cymbal decapitates the vampire.

"Head's up!" He says.

Buffy can't resist a chuckle. Luke grabs her from behind.

* * *

Cordelia is on the floor with Jesse above her. She struggles and he grabs her arms. "Hold still! You're not making this easy!" He says.

Xander comes up behind him, stake in hand. "Jesse, man! Don't make me do it."

Jesse turns to look up at Xander. "Buddy!"

* * *

Luke tightens his grip on Buffy. "I always wanted to kill a Slayer!"

* * *

Giles, Willow, and Trinity are still guiding people out. "One at a time! Quickly! Quickly!" He crosses to the other side of the room in front of some stairs. Darla is standing on the steps above him. "We're going to have to open the front as well!" Darla leaps onto him from behind, knocking him to the floor.

* * *

"Jesse! I know there's still a part of you in there." Xander pleads.

Jesse jumps up. "Okay. Let's deal with this. Jesse was an excruciating loser who couldn't get a date with anyone in the sighted community! Look at me. I'm a new man!"

* * *

"Master! Taste of this… and be free!" Luke growls and moves in to bite Buffy. She senses his proximity and snaps her head back to land a head-butt on his face, knocking him off of her and back to the wall.

She turns to him, winded. "How'd it taste?"

* * *

Giles and Darla struggle on the floor.

Trinity approaches them while taking out a jar of holy water. "Get off of him!" She says. Darla is distracted and looks up. Trinity throws the holy water at her. It burns her face and steams. She gets up and runs from the club, screaming.

* * *

Jesse grabs Xander by the jacket and lifts him around against a wall. Xander has the stake pointed at Jesse's chest.

"Ooh! Alright. Put me out of my misery. You don't have the guts." Jesse taunts. A fleeing patron bumps into Jesse, impaling him on the stake. Xander lets go of the stake, and Jesse begins to fall. He turns to ashes before he even hits the floor. Two vampires grab Xander.

* * *

Buffy grabs a microphone stand and holds it like a javelin.

"You forget, metal can't hurt me." Luke smirks.

"There's something you forgot about, too. Sunrise!" She throws the stand at the window behind Luke. He ducks, and it breaks the window behind him. A bright light pours in through it. Buffy spies the stake she dropped on the stage and picks it up. Luke gets up and shields his face with his hands, expecting to be burned. He stops when he realizes it's only a bright lamp. Buffy lunges at him from behind and jams the stake home. "It's in about nine hours, moron!"

Luke begins to stagger off of the stage.

* * *

The Master still tests the strength of his confines.

* * *

Luke falls from the stage and explodes into ash.

* * *

The Master feels Luke's death and falls to his knees. "Noooooooo! Noooooooo!" He yells.

* * *

Buffy stares at Luke's ashes. She lifts her gaze and makes eye contact with the vampires holding Xander. The vampires panic and run.

* * *

Outside, the vampires run past Angel standing behind some crates stacked against a wall.

He watches them run, then looks back the other way. "She did it! I'll be damned." He walks away.

* * *

Buffy hops down to the floor. Giles, Trinity, and Willow meet her.

"I take it it's over." He says.

"Did we win?" Willow asks.

"Well, we averted the Apocalypse. I give us points for that." Buffy says.

Xander walks up. "One thing's for sure; nothing's ever gonna be the same."

Trinity looks at him. "Did you really have to say that? At least before we had our hopes, but now you just ruined it for everyone."

* * *

At Sunnydale High the next Morning, everything appears normal. Buffy walks along and overhears Cordelia talking to a friend.

"Well, I heard it was rival gangs. You know, fighting for turf? But all I can tell you is they were an ugly way of looking. And Buffy, like, knew them! Which is just too weird. I mean, I don't even remember that much, but I'm telling you, it was a freak show!"

"Oh, I wish I'd been there!" A girl says.

"You should have been there. It was so creepy." She and her friend walk off.

Buffy walks up to Xander and Trinity. "What exactly were you expecting?" She asks them.

"I don't know, something. I mean, the dead rose. We should at least have an assembly." He says. Trinity nods.

They run into Giles and Willow, and the five of them continue to walk. "People have a tendency to rationalize what they can and forget what they can't." Giles explains.

Buffy nods. "Believe me, I've seen it happen."

"Well, I'll never forget it, none of it." Willow says.

"Good! Next time you'll be prepared." Giles tells her.

"Next time?" Trinity asks.

"Next time is why?" Willow questions.

"We've prevented the Master from freeing himself and opening the Mouth of Hell. That's not to say he's going to stop trying. I'd say the fun is just beginning." He tells them.

"More vampires?" They stop walking.

"Not just vampires. The next threat we face may be something quite different."

Buffy smiles. "I can hardly wait!"

"We're at the center of a mystical convergence here. We may, in fact, stand between the Earth and its total destruction." Giles says in a serious tone.

Buffy shrugs. "Well, I gotta look on the bright side. Maybe I can still get kicked out of school!" The four students continue to class. Giles stays behind and watches them go.

"Oh, yeah, that's a plan. 'Cause lots of schools aren't on Hellmouths." Xander says.

"Maybe you could blow something up. They're really strict about that." Willow says.

"Just prank the principal's office." Trinity says. "That's a quick way to expulsion."

"I was thinking of a more subtle approach, y'know, like excessive not studying." Buffy says.

Giles turns to go back to his library. "The Earth is doomed."


	3. The Witch

Chapter Three: The Witch

In the school library, Giles is upset. "This is madness! What can you have been thinking? You are the Slayer! Lives depend upon you!" He begins pacing. "I make allowances for your youth, but I expect a certain amount of responsibility, and instead of which you enslave yourself to this, this…" He stops pacing. "Cult?"

Buffy stands in her cheerleading uniform. "You don't like the color?"

"I'd…" He sighs in exasperation. "Do you, um…" He sets a pile of books onto a cart. "Do you ignore everything I say as a, as a rule?"

"No, I believe that's your trick." Buffy says. Giles pushes the cart to the counter when she skips in front of him and poses. "I told you, I'm trying out for the cheerleading squad!"

"You have a sacred birthright, Buffy. You were chosen to destroy vampires, not to…wave pompoms at people. And as the Watcher I forbid it." He walks back to the table.

"And you'll be stopping me how?"

"Well, I…" He sits on the edge of the table and crosses his arms. "By appealing to your common sense, if such a creature exists."

"I will still have time to fight the forces of evil, okay? I just wanna have a life, I wanna do something normal. Something safe."

* * *

Flowers and herbs hang up side down from the rafters to dry and personal items with identification tags. The witch moves around in the darkness. She waves a pendant on a chain over the brew, and then pulls it back. She goes over to a rack and yanks off a doll hanging there by its neck on a wire.

* * *

In the gym, cheerleader tryouts are about to start. Girls are stretching and practicing, doing back handsprings, cartwheels and walking handstands. One girl does a round off followed by a back handspring.

Buffy, Willow, Trinity, and Xander come through the door.

"Giles didn't approve, huh?" Trinity says.

Buffy shakes her head. "He totally lost his water. We haven't seen a vampire in over a week. I'd say he should get a girlfriend if he wasn't so old."

"Well, we're behind you." Willow tells her.

"People scoff at things like school spirit, but look at these girls giving their all like this!" Xander says. He notices a girl doing the splits between two chairs. "Ooh, stretchy! Where was I?"

"You were pretending that seeing scantily clad girls in revealing postures was a spiritual experience." Willow teases.

"Who said I was pretending?" He turns to Buffy. "Oh, hey! Here's a good luck thing for tryouts." He pulls a bracelet from his pocket and hands it to her.

"What's this?" She asks.

"What's that?" Willow asks, a hint of worry in her voice.

Buffy looks at the bracelet. "Oh, how sweet!" She reads the inscription. "Your's Always."

"I-i-it came that way, really, they all said that!" He tells her, not noticing Willow breathe a sigh of relief.

Cordelia walks up to them and looks at the girl stretching. "Just look at that Amber. Who does she think she is, a Laker Girl?"

"I heard she turned them down." Trinity says.

Joy, the cheerleading squad leader, steps up with her clipboard and calls for everyone's attention. "Okay, listen up! Let's begin with…" She checks her clipboard. "Amber Grove. If you're not auditioning, move off the floor."

Willow looks around the room and her eyes light up. "Amy! Hi!"

The girl walks over. "Hi."

"I didn't know you wanted to be a cheerleader! You lost a lot of weight."

"Had to."

"Do you know Buffy?" Willow introduces.

Amy looks at the girl. "Hi."

"Hi." Buffy smiles.

Amy turns back to the try-outs. "Oh, how I hate this, let me count the ways." She says. Amber begins her routine. It's very athletic. She starts off with a needle-split lift followed by a double spin and a jumping double spin. After landing, Amber launches herself into an aerial and a cartwheel. Jazz slides are then followed by a single spin. Everyone in the gym is intent on watching her. "She trained with Benson. He's one of the best coaches money can buy."

"They have cheerleading coaches?" Buffy asks.

Amy nods. "Oh, yeah! Don't you have? I train with my mom, three hours in the morning, three at night."

"Hmm, that much quality time with my mom would probably lead to some quality matricide." She jokes.

"Oh, I know it's hokey. But she's really great."

Cordelia turns her back to Amber with a look of contempt on her face. "Hmm!"

Buffy, Trinity, and Xander watch Amber in amazement. Amy and Willow are impressed, too. Amber's hands begin to smoke.

"What the…?" Trinity trails off.

"That girl's on fire!" Willow shouts.

Cordelia, still facing away, rolls her eyes. "Enough of the hyperbole!"

Amber's hands catch fire. She drops her pompoms and screams. Buffy reacts. Amber flails her hands in the air. Buffy jumps up onto the stands and pulls down a banner. She runs back to Amber, knocks her down and snuffs out the flames with the banner. Everyone stares in shock.

Buffy tries to comfort Amber. "It's okay, it's okay, you're gonna be…okay." She looks at the girl. "God!" She says to herself.

* * *

In the library, Willow, Trinity, and Xander sit at a table while Buffy paces.

"I've been slaying vampires for more than a year now, and I have seen some pretty cringe worthy things, but…nobody's hands ever got toasted before." Buffy says.

Giles comes out of the cage. "I imagine not."

"So, this isn't a vampire problem."

"No."

She turns to Giles. "But it is funky, right? Not of the norm?"

"Quite. Spontaneous human combustion is, is rare, and, and scientifically unexplainable, but there have been cases for hundreds of years. Usually all that's left is a pile of ashes."

"That's all that would have been left if it hadn't been for Buffy." Willow says.

"So, we have no idea what caused this." Trinity adds

"That's a comfort." Xander says, sarcastically.

"But that's the thrill of living on the Hellmouth!" Giles says and sits on the edge of the table. "There's a veritable cornucopia of, of fiends and devils and, and ghouls to engage." Everyone looks at him. "Pardon me for finding the glass half full."

"Any common denominators in cases of spontaneous combustion?" Buffy asks.

"Uh, rage. In most cases the person who combusted was, was terribly angry or, or upset."

"So maybe Amber's got this power to make herself be on fire." Trinity guesses.

"It's like the human torch, only it hurts." Xander adds.

"I need to get the skinny on Amber. Find out if she's had any colorful episodes before." Buffy says as she starts to leave.

"That means hacking illegally into the school's computer system. At last, something _I _can do!" Willow says.

They go over to Buffy. "We'll ask around about her." Trinity says.

Buffy looks at them. "You guys don't have to get involved."

"What'd ya mean? We're a team! Aren't we a team?" Xander asks.

Willow smiles. "Yeah! You're the Slayer, and we're, like, the Slayerettes!"

"I just don't like putting you guys in danger." Buffy tells them.

"Oh, huh, I laugh in the face of danger. Then I hide until it goes away." Xander jokes.

"Okay, just walk softly, at least until we know a little more. I mean, what if Amber isn't causing these problems herself?"

"Well, then we have to determine who or what did, and, uh, deal with it accordingly." Giles says.

* * *

At home, Buffy walks into the kitchen. She sees several wooden crates and Joyce trying to pry one open with a crowbar. "Hey!" She greets.

Joyce looks up. "Hi, how was school?"

"Mm, a reverent joy. What's all this?"

"It's for the tribal art display."

"Cool!" She looks at one of the pieces. "We had tryouts today."

"Oh, great! How'd it go?" She sighs, struggling to get the crate open.

"I didn't actually get to try out. There was an accident. Pretty fierce competition, though."

"Oh, I know you'll do fine. Keep on pluggin', just have to get back on the horse." She says, her attention still on the crate.

"Mom?"

"Yeah?"

"What was I trying out for?"

"Oh, uh…" She stops prying at the crate and looks at Buffy. "Some activity? I have no idea, I'm sorry."

"That's okay. Your platitudes are good for all occasions."

She sighs. "I'm distracted." She starts prying again. "Got a lotta inventory to go through here. This is my Gallery's first major show." She releases a tired sigh and gives up. "You know, it might not physically kill you to give me a hand here." She goes to check her clipboard.

Buffy grabs the lid of the crate and effortlessly tears it off. "It was cheerleading."

"Oh good! I'm glad you're taking that up again, it'll keep you out of trouble."

"I'm not _in _trouble."

"No, not yet." She says absentmindedly. She realizes what she said and looks up to see Buffy's hurt face. "I mean, you stopped cheerleading just before the trouble, so it's good you're going back." She goes back to the crate and partially lifts out a statue. "Oh, dear."

"What?"

"The fertility statue, you don't need to see it." She sets it down and puts the lid back on.

"Y'know, there's this girl, Amy, and, um, she trains with her mom, like, three hours a day."

"Uh-huh."

"Sounds like her mom's pretty into it."

"Sounds like her mom doesn't have a lot to do." She walks out of the kitchen with a piece of art.

Buffy lifts the crate's lid a little bit and looks in. "Jeepers!"

* * *

The next day, try-outs have resumed. Joy paces back and forth. "Despite the terrible thing that happened yesterday we still have to pick new cheerleaders. If you make the team you'll find your names posted in the quad after lunch. Let's begin with group performance."

Amy leans towards Buffy. "Why do my hands have to sweat when I get nervous?" She whispers.

"Don't worry. You'll do great."

"Five, six, seven, eight!" Joy calls loudly, counting off the cheer.

"Sunnydale! Sunnydale! We never fail! We never fail! Jump and Shoot! Swish and score! The other team is such a bore! Yeah!" The girls cheer. Amy blows the cartwheel and crashes into Cordelia.

Cordelia yelps as she falls and then quickly gets up. "You saw that, right? That wasn't me! You saw that, right?" She looks at Amy and back again. "Right?"

* * *

In the hallway, Amy is admiring the trophies in the case with a longing look. Buffy comes up next to her. Amy notices her and smiles, pointing to a picture in the case. "That's my mom!"

"No!" Buffy smiles and reads the inscription. "Catherine Madison. Get down with your bad self!"

Amy nods. "Her nickname was 'Catherine the Great'. She took that team and made them tri-county champions. Y'know, no one's ever done that before, or since. She and my dad were Homecoming King and Queen. They got married right after graduation."

"That's kinda romantic."

"Well, he was a big loser. Never made any money. Ran off with 'Miss Trailer Trash when I was twelve." She continues.

"Okay, that part's less romantic. My folks split up, too."

"Drag, huh? Uh, he left my mom with nothing. She put herself through cosmetology school." She says with a smile. "Bought me everything I ever wanted." She shakes her head. "And never once gained a single pound."

Buffy turns to face Amy. "Uh, she sounds really great, Amy, but, um…it doesn't mean that you need to lock step as far as this cheerleading thing."

"She was the best! And I can't get my body to _move _like hers! I choked in there so bad!"

"No, Amy, you did fine."

"I'm gonna get changed." She walks away with a dejected look on her face.

"Wait! No…"

Willow passes by the girl. "Hey, Amy!" She greets before walking over to Buffy. "Is she okay?"

"No, she's, she's wiggin' about her mom, big cheer queen back when."

"Yeah, her mom's kinda…"

"Nazi like?"

"Heil. If she gains an ounce she padlocks the fridge and won't eat anything but broth."

"So, mommy dearest is really…'Mommy Dearest?'"

"There's a bitter streak. But Amy's nice. We used to hang in Junior High. When her mom would go on a broth kick, Amy would come over to my house and we'd stuff ourselves with brownies!" They start walking down the hall.

"Hey, any word on Amber?"

"Nothing thrilling. Average student. Got detention once, for smoking. Regular smoking…with a cigarette, not, like, being smoky."

"Hmm."

"All pretty normal."

"So we just have to wait and we'll see what happens. Maybe nothing will."

* * *

Amy stands alone in the girl's locker room. She hears a noise and turns to look, but sees nothing. She hears the drips of the showers. Amy closes her locker and turns to leave but jumps back at the sight of Cordelia.

"I have a dream. It's me on the cheerleading squad, adored by every varsity male as far as the eye can see! We have to achieve our dreams, Amy. Otherwise we…wither and die!" Cordelia glares at her.

"Look, I'm sorry about-" Amy starts but Cordelia interrupts her.

"Shhh! If your supreme klutziness out there today takes me out of the running, you're gonna be so _very_ beyond sorry!" She smiles. "Have a nice day." She turns and leaves, throwing her scrunchie into an open locker and slams the door as she rounds the corner.

Amy leans against her locker, shaken.

* * *

Willow, Trinity, and Xander walk the halls outside. "I told Buffy about Amber." Willow says.

"Cool! Was she wearin' it? The bracelet, she was wearin' it, right?" Xander asks eagerly. "Pretty much like we're goin' out."

"Except without the hugging or kissing or her knowing about it." Trinity says.

"So I'm just a figure of fun." He sighs. "I should ask her out, right?"

"You won't know till you ask." Willow tells him.

"That's why you're so cool! You're like a guy! You're my guy friend that knows about girl stuff!"

"Oh, great. I'm a guy."

"Oh, hey, they're posting the list!" He runs off to check the list of names for the cheerleading squad.

Trinity shakes her head and squeezes Willow's shoulder. "You should really take your own advice."

* * *

A crowd forms in front of the bulletin board. Buffy and Amy are in the back. They see a girl rush away in tears, devastated that she did not make the cut.

"I can't take this." Amy says.

Joy steps away from posting the list on the bulletin board. A girl reads her name on the list. "Yes!"

Xander comes up behind Buffy and Amy. "Cover me, I'm goin' in." He pushes his way through the crowd and looks at the list.

Cordelia comes out of the crowd and looks at Amy. "You're lucky."

"I made it?" Amy asks, a hopeful look on her face.

"_I _made it."

Xander comes back out of the crowd and gets hit on the way. "One of those girls hit me really hard! You should test for steroids. Okay, not only did you make the team, but you, Miss Summers, are the first alternate, and Amy's number three." He tells them. Amy looks at Buffy, disappointed and leaves. "And what a better way to celebrate than with a romantic drive through-"

"Xander, alternates are the ones who didn't make the team." Trinity says.

Willow nods. "They only fill in if something happens to the ones who did."

"Excuse me." Buffy says and jogs towards her friend.

Xander sighs, downtrodden. "For I am Xander, King of Cretins. May all lesser cretins bow before me."

* * *

Buffy catches up with Amy. "At least it's over. And you know what I think we should do about it? Brownie pig-out, my house, after school."

Amy sighs. "It's just how many more hours a day can I practice? Y'know, how much more can I do? This would never happen to my mother. Never." She walks off. Buffy stares after her.

* * *

Inside an attic, personally items from cheerleaders are lined up on a rack.

Amy stirs a cauldron."Give me the power. Give me the dark." She takes a doll from the rack. "I call on you, the laughing gods." She snatches another doll. "Let your blackness crawl beneath my skin." She wraps Cordelia's scrunchie around the doll's head. "Accept thy sacrifice…of Cordelia. Feed on her." She drops the doll into the brew.

* * *

In the Summers kitchen, the toaster pops up and Buffy pulls out a freshly toasted half of a bagel. She takes it to the island in the middle of the kitchen for more preparation.

Her mother comes in. "Look what I found. It's my yearbook from junior year." She flips to a page. "Oh, look! There I am." She puts the book down on the island and goes to get a cup of coffee.

Buffy looks at the picture. "Mom, I've accepted that you've had sex. I am not ready to know that you had Farrah hair."

"This is Gidget hair. Don't they teach you anything in history?"

"Well, it's really cool, but I gotta book."

"Well, I was thinking. I know the cheerleading thing didn't work out…maybe you should think about joining the yearbook staff. I did, it was a lot of fun."

"Not really my tip, mom." She opens the refrigerator.

"I was, uh, photo editor. I got to be on every page, made me look much more popular than I was."

"And have you seen the kids that do yearbook? _Nerds_ pick on them." She goes to her bag.

"Some of the best times I had in school were working on the yearbook!" Joyce says, an insulted look on her face.

Buffy turns to her. "Oh, this just in; I'm not you! I'm into my own thing."

"Your own thing, whatever it is, got you kicked out of school, and we had to move here to find a decent school that would take you!" She says. Buffy looks at her, hurt. She takes her bag and leaves. "Honey…" Joyce calls but she's too late. "Ugh!" She grunts. "Great parenting form! Little shaky on the dismount."

* * *

At school, Cordelia walks past Trinity, Willow, and Xander in a daze.

"Cordelia, you haven't been mean to me all day. Is it something I've done?" Xander calls but she continues past him unaware. He turns to the girls. "Okay, see how she has no clue that I'm even a mammal, much less a human being?"

Willow nods, taking the pen from her mouth. "I can see that."

"This is the invisible man syndrome. A blessing in Cordelia's case. A curse in Buffy's."

Willow closes her locker. "You're not invisible to Buffy." She chews on her pen some more as they start to walk down the hall.

"It's worse! I'm just like a part of the scenery, like an old shoe. Or a rug that you walk on every day but don't even really see it."

Trinity nods. "He's right."

Willow takes her pen out of her mouth. "Like a pen that's all chewed up, and you know you should throw it away, but you don't, not 'cause you like it so much, more 'cause you're just used to-" Xander interrupts her.

"Will, yeah, that is the point, you don't have to drive it through my head like a railroad spike. I'm gonna take your advice and not beat around the bush."

"Or I could be wrong! Maybe you should beat around the bush more."

"Nah, I gotta be a man and ask her out. Y'know, I gotta stop giving her ID bracelets, uh, subtle innuendoes, taking Polaroids outside of her bedroom window late at night, that last part is a joke to relieve the tension because here she comes." He sees Buffy come out of a classroom and walk towards them. "Okay, into battle I go." He quickly turns towards Trinity and grabs by the shoulders, startling her. "Would you ask her out for me?"

"I think she'd take it the wrong way if I do." She says.

Buffy sees Cordelia struggling to open her locker.

"No. Man." Xander lets go of Trinity's shoulders. "Me battle." He turns towards Buffy. "Buffy! Would you like to, uh…"

Buffy reaches the trio. "Is that even Cordelia's locker?" She asks. They see Cordelia give up and continue down the hall.

"Huh? Oh, I don't know. What I'm saying is accompany me Friday night-"

Buffy is still watching Cordelia. "Xander, I have to, um…" She faces him. "We can make this up later. You don't mind, do you?" She gives him her book and follows Cordelia. Xander whistles the sound of a bomb falling and exploding.

Willow looks at him and continues chewing on her pen. Trinity looks between her two friends and shakes her head.

* * *

Buffy goes outside and looks around for Cordelia. She sees her and starts to follow.

Mr. Pole; the Driver's Ed teacher, waits impatiently for Cordelia. He turns and sees her coming. "Nice of you to join us, Cordelia. We didn't keep you waiting or anything, did we? It's your turn to drive." He turns to the other students. "Okay, people, let's buckle up."

Cordelia walks around the front of the car. "I don't wanna drive today, Mr. Pole."

"You've flunked Driver's Ed twice already. Show me some moves, or you'll be taking the bus to college." He gets into the car. Cordelia gets in last. Buffy watches from behind a school bus. "Okay. Check the brake. Check the mirror. Start the engine." Cordelia turns the key and the engine starts, but she seems out of it. "Hello? Put the car in drive." Cordelia struggles with the shifting lever. "Let's move forward through the cones with a gentle even turn to the-" The car takes off backward, crashes into some signs and stops. Cordelia gets it in drive, and the car races forward, burning rubber. "Slow down. Slow, slow, turn right! Turn right!" Cordelia loses control as the car races along the course, knocking down cones and signs. Buffy begins running after them. "Brakes! Brakes!" The car crashes through a fence and bushes and careens out onto the street, where it comes to a sudden halt. Another car just manages to swerve around them. "Everybody out!"

They all get out. Cordelia is in a daze, and she walks into the middle of the street. A delivery van is coming the other way, but it doesn't slow down. Buffy comes running. Cordelia turns to see the van coming and screams. Buffy leaps over the Driver's Ed. car and grabs Cordelia, pulling her down and out of the way. The van takes out the open car door as Buffy and Cordelia roll to a stop.

"Oh my god. I…I can't see anything!" Cordelia says.

"It's, it's okay, it's…" She sees Cordelia's eyes. "Oh god!"

Her eyes no longer have irises and are completely white. "What's happening? I can't see anything!"

* * *

In the library, the Scooby's sit at a table.

"Witchcraft." Giles says. "Blinding your enemy to disorient and disable them is, it's classic!"

"First vampires, now witches. No wonder you can still afford a house in Sunnydale." Xander jokes.

"Why should someone want to harm Cordelia?"

"Maybe because they _met_ her?" Trinity says.

"And setting Amber ablaze?"

Xander nods. "Yeah, those guys don't hang."

"They're both cheerleaders." Buffy realizes.

"Someone doesn't like cheerleading." Giles theorizes.

"Or likes it too much."

"Amy!" Willow figures.

"Amy."

"So, you guys are leaning towards Amy?" Xander asks.

Buffy nods. "She's desperate to get on that team, and I've got this feeling she'd do just about anything to make her mom's dream come true."

"Uh, let me make sure I have this right." Giles says. "This witch is casting horrible and disfiguring spells so that she can become a cheerleader?"

"I think you're underestimating the amount of pressure a parent can lay on you. If you're not a picture perfect carbon copy they tend to wig."

Trinity nods. "Cheerleading was kind of her mom's last hurrah. Which is kinda sad if the high point of your life is high school."

"Look, we still have to stop Amy." Xander says. "We should grab her and-"

Giles interrupts him. "I think we should be sure she's the witch before we arouse her suspicions. She's, she's capable of some fairly unpleasant things."

"Okay, alright." Buffy gets up. "So, you're in high school, you are desperate to make the team and please your mom, so you turn to witchcraft. What's the first thing you're gonna do?"

"Check out the books on witchcraft!" Willow says. She and Buffy go over to the computer to access the online library catalog.

Xander sits up. "Uh, no! No, that would be the _last _thing you would do! You don't wanna leave a paper trail. Forget that!"

"It'll just take a minute."

Xander gets up and stands behind them. "We don't have a minute! Cheerleaders are in danger. Buffy's in danger." He turns to Buffy. "You were the first alternate, you are on the team now that Cordelia's out. You could be next. We gotta get you to a safe house."

"Xander." Willow says.

"Yeah?"

She sighs and read the monitor. "'Witches: Historic Roots to Modern Practice.' Checked out by Alexander Harris."

Buffy reads as well. "'The Pagan Rites', checked out by Alexander-"

"Alright, alright, it's not what you think." He says.

"You like to look at the semi-nude engravings?" Trinity says.

"Oh, well, uh, I-I guess it _is _what you think."

"Have you all quite finished? We have to find a conclusive test." Giles says. "There may be something in here…" He flips through the pages of a book. "Yes, this should do it. You'll need some of her hair, a little quicksilver and some aqua fortis."

"Well, that's just mercury and nitric acid. You can get that in the science lab." Willow tells him.

He continues reading. "'Heat ingredients and apply to witch, and if a spell has been cast in the previous 48 hours, witch's skin turns blue.' Hmm." He shuts the book. "Oh, and you'll need some Eye of Newt."

* * *

In science class, Dr. Gregory is holding a frog up for the class to see. "Those of you in track one may begin your dissections…now." He indicates where the students should cut their frogs. Xander is trying to take his frog's eye out with tweezers. "Those of you in track two, take your hydrochloric acid and your ammonium hydroxide and carefully pour them into your beakers." He begins to pour. "Now slow, slow…"

Xander still struggles. "I can't." He says. Willow grabs the frog and takes out its eye.

"…capping one, I'm being safe. And you get…" Dr. Gregory continues.

Willow drops the eye into the beaker. "Eye of Newt!"

The ingredients in the beaker react and begin to bubble and smoke. "That." Dr. Gregory shows the class.

"How's Buffy doing with the hair?" Xander asks. They look towards Buffy and Trinity, who sit at another table.

Trinity runs a hand through her hair, and lightly breathes through her mouth.

Buffy looks at her. "Are you okay?"

"It's just all the chemicals." She says. "It messes with my senses. I'm going to open a window." She gets out of her seat.

A girl in front of them; Lishanne, turns around. "Isn't this exciting?!" She asks Buffy.

"Oh, yeah!" Buffy smiles. She gets up and walks to another table. "Amy, help me. Um, which is the hydrochloric acid and which is the, uh, ammonium hydroxide?"

"Well, the bottle that says 'hydrochloric acid' is usually the hydrochloric acid." She says.

"Read the bottles. Good concept!" She laughs nervously and drops her pencil. "Oops." She crouches down to pick up the pencil. She reaches into Amy's bag and pulls some hair off of her brush. She gets up and tries to pretend nothing happened. She glances at Amy to gauge her reaction. Amy smiles back weakly. She noticed but pretends she didn't. Buffy waves her pencil and smiles back. She heads back to her lab table with an expression of relief at having avoided a close call. She puts the hair on Willow's table as she walks by.

Willow picks up the hair and mixes it into the concoction. Amy looks back at them to see what they're doing. Willow and Xander look back nervously.

"Wave 'Hi' to the nice little witch." Xander says in a low voice, but Amy hears him and looks at them again.

Willow takes the beaker and pours some of the liquid into a test-tube. "All set." She hands the tube to Buffy. "Do you have a plan?"

"Spill it on her." She says. "Try to make it look natural."

"We're right behind you, only…further back." Xander says.

Buffy slowly makes her way over to Amy.

"Lishanne, can you tell me why these chemicals have this reaction?" Dr. Gregory asks. Buffy pours some of the mixture onto Amy's arm and feigns an accident, gasping. She sees the liquid turn blue on contact. "Lishanne?"

Amy doesn't notice the spill and looks at Lishanne. Buffy looks over as well and sees the girl shaking her head rapidly. Lishanne turns towards the class and everyone sees that she no longer has a mouth.

Buffy stares at her, shocked and looks to Amy who looks surprised as well.

Willow, Trinity, and Xander look on with wide eyes.

* * *

In the hallway, they discuss their findings.

"Did you see?" Xander asks. "Amy was as freaked out as the rest of us."

"So it's not her?" Willow asks.

"The test was positive." Buffy tells her. "She's our Sabrina. I just don't think she realizes what she's doing."

"Well, should we talk to her?"

"If she's doing this without knowing it, she must be a natural born witch." Trinity says. "We need to talk to her mother."

* * *

Amy strides through the gate to her house with determination. She goes through the door and looks for her mother. "Where are you?" She calls. Catherine quickly turns off the TV and gets up. Amy sees her. "Another productive day in front of the TV?" Catherine just stares at her. "I got a history report due tomorrow." Amy drops her bag. "Write it!" Catherine sighs. "I should be on that team by now. But instead Miss _Buffy _and friends are sneaking around stealing bits of my hair." Catherine shakes her head. Amy opens her hand, and out drops Buffy's bracelet. "I'll be upstairs."

Catherine watches her go.

* * *

The next morning, Buffy is still sleeping when suddenly the alarm clock goes off. She slaps it with too much strength and breaks it. "Oh! Oops! Oh…" She sits up. "Mm…"

* * *

In the kitchen, Joyce is making fresh-squeezed orange juice.

Buffy comes dancing in singing and wearing her cheerleader outfit. "Macho, macho, man!" Buffy sings. "I want to be a macho man. Macho-oh!, hey, juice!" She grabs the glass and drinks. "Mm…quality juice. Not from concentrate!"

Joyce looks at her. "You're in a good mood."

"I am! I'm on the squad, which is great, 'cause I feel like cheering and leading others to cheer. Ooh, hey, juice!" Buffy takes the second glass and drinks again.

"Listen, honey, about yesterday, I really-"

"Mm! That is totally yester. Besides, it's not like you were wrong, y'know. I did get kicked outta school. I'm just wacky that way!"

"Still, I just want you to know that, despite the problems you've had, I really-"

Buffy cuts her off. "Mom, you just don't get it. And, believe me, you don't want it. Y'know, there are just some things about being a Vampire Slayer that the older generation-"

"A what?" Joyce asks, confused.

"It's a…long story."

"Buffy, are you feeling well?"

"What? Oh, I'm, I'm fine, y'know? What, like, I can't be in a good mood? Is it, like, a new house rule? Fine, y'know? It's just fine, fine, fine, 'cause…" She begins to sing again. "I'm a macho, macho man! I want to be a macho man!" She bobs her head, leaving the kitchen. "Macho, macho man! I want to be a macho man!"

* * *

At cheerleading practice, Buffy is positioned next to Joy in the lineup.

"Five, six, seven, eight!" Joy calls. The cheerleaders begin practicing a routine.

"Turn up the music!" Buffy yells. The routine continues until Buffy accidentally stomps on Joy's foot.

Joy yelps. "Ow! Get it together Buffy! We have a game in less than four hours!"

Buffy sees Xander, Willow, and Trinity come in. She jumps gleefully. "Willow! Xander! Trinity! My buds are here! I love my buds! Hi!" She waves before noticing everyone's stares. "Hi…oh." She gets back in line, and the routine continues.

"Is it me, or is Buffy a bit looped?" Xander asks.

Willow and Trinity look on, worried. The cheerleaders continue with a series of assisted cartwheels. "We better get her outta there." Willow says.

Trinity nods. "Yeah, before she-" Buffy overthrows Joy's aerial, sending her crashing into the gym wall. "…hurts someone."

Joy gets up as Buffy comes running over. "Did I do that?" Buffy asks.

Joy pushes her. "You are _so _out of here!

Trinity and Xander run up and each grab a hold one of Buffy's arms.

"It's not her fault!" Willow says from behind them.

"She's on medication." Xander adds.

Buffy looks at him. "What?"

"Well, obviously not enough. Who's our next alternate?" Joy looks around and sees Amy behind her. "Oh. Amy, you just made cheerleader."

Buffy shakes her head. "No, no, no. You don't want her, she's a wi-"

Xander quickly puts his hand over Buffy's mouth. "A wise choice indeed!" He and Trinity pull Buffy away. Willow nods and cast a nervous smile towards Amy and joy before following. Amy stares after them.

* * *

Trinity and Xander support Buffy as they walk down the hallway.

"She's a witchy!" Buffy says.

"Buffy…" Willow trails off, looking at her.

"I just got kicked off the team, didn't I?"

"I don't think it was your fault." Xander says.

She looks at him, smiling. "Hmm, I know you don't, that's 'cause you're my friend. You're my Xander-shaped friend!" She leans her head on his shoulder. "Do you have any idea why I love you so, Xander?"

"We gotta to get her to a-" Trinity starts but Xander stop her with a gesture.

"Let her speak!" He says.

"I'll tell you!" Buffy continues. "You're not like other boys at all."

"Well…"

"You are totally, and completely one of the girls!" She looks at Willow. "I'm that comfy with him." She finishes, making the girl smile.

Xander deflates. "That's great."

"Any other guy who'd give me a bracelet, they'd…wanna date me, and be like a…" She begins to feel woozy. "Oh! I, I don't feel so good."

"Buffy?" Trinity asks but the girl collapses in their arms.

* * *

In the library, Buffy is lying back in a chair with a wet cloth on her forehead. Trinity supports her head and keeps the cloth in place with her hand.

"We've gotta get her to a hospital!" Willow says.

Giles shakes his head. "They can't help her. This is a bloodstone vengeance spell." He takes her pulse. "Hits the body hard like a, a quart of alcohol, and then it e-eradicates the, uh, immune system."

"A vengeance spell, like she's trying to get even with Buffy?" Xander asks.

"'Cause she knows I know she's a witch." Buffy groans.

"The others she just wanted out of the running. You she intends to, um…" Giles trails off.

"Kill?"

"How much time do we have?" Trinity asks.

"Oh, uh, I'm sure, uh…"

"Truth." Buffy says. "Please."

"Couple of hours." Giles says. "Three at most."

"Well, how do we reverse the spell?" Xander asks.

Giles stands up. "Well I, I've been researching that, and, uh, we can reverse all the spells if, um…" He takes off his glasses and rubs his eyes. "We can just lay our hands on, on Amy's spell book."

"And if we can't get a hold of it?" Willow asks.

"Well, the other way is to cut the witch's head off." He puts his glasses back on.

"Show of hands!" Xander raises his hand.

Buffy shakes her head. "It's not Amy's fault. She only became a witch to survive her mother."

Xander looks at her. "Look, I don't care why, I just care that you go on breathing."

Trinity nods. "Yeah, I'm sure that you're the only slayer who doesn't want to kill me."

"Giles, where would she be casting these spells?" Buffy asks.

"Oh, she needs a, a sacred space. A-a-a pentagram, um, large pot."

Buffy nods. "Her home. Okay. Help me up." Trinity helps her stand. "We'll just go to her house and we'll get her book."

"Okay, we'll go with you." Willow says.

"Uh, no! You guys stay here and keep an eye on Amy."

"Then we'll split up." Trinity says. "I'll go with you and Giles while Willow and Xander stay here."

"Trinity-"

"If something happens you're not in the best shape to deal with that. I may not be the best fighter but I can help." She says, helping Buffy walk.

Giles looks at Willow and Xander. "Keep Amy away from the science lab. We'll need it to cast our counter-spells." He says before they leave.

Willow and Xander exchange worried looks.

* * *

Giles pulls up to Amy's house.

* * *

Catherine has a plate of brownies on her lap and takes a bite out of one. She looks up startled when she hears a knock on the door.

* * *

Trinity holds Buffy up.

* * *

Catherine slides the plate under the coffee table and gets up when the knocking continues. She opens the door. "Who are you? What, um, uh, is there something wrong?"

"Mrs. Madison, we need to talk to you about your daughter." Giles tells her.

"I'm not allow…you'll have to come back later." She tries to close the door, but Giles prevents her and pushes his way in.

"Excuse me!"

"What?!"

Trinity looks at Buffy. "You alright?" She walks into the house and sits Buffy on the couch.

Giles continues talking to Catherine. "Your daughter is meddling with something very dangerous, are you aware of that?"

"Uh, I don't know what you're talking about." Catherine says.

"Oh, I think you know only too well."

"You've got to go. She's gonna be home soon, and you-"

"This girl is very sick." Giles says angrily. "Now you will shut up and you will listen to me! Your daughter has access to some very powerful magic's, and somehow your obsession with cheerleading has made-"

"I don't care about cheerleading!" Catherine says incredulously. "It's not my fault she's doing stuff."

Trinity sniffs and sees the brownies under the table. "Buffy…" She says quietly. Buffy looks at the brownies and realizes who Catherine really is.

"As her mother you should assume some responsibility for her actions." Giles continues.

Catherine laughs. "Well, you know, these kids today! I…" She calms down. "She's out of her mind. Ever since dad, her dad…left, I can't control her."

"Help me up." Buffy says quietly. Trinity helps her stand.

"You're afraid of her?" Giles asks.

"Amy?" Buffy asks. Catherine looks at Buffy and realizes she's been found out. Giles looks at Buffy, still puzzled. "Are you Amy?"

Giles looks back at Catherine. "I don't understand."

"She switched." Trinity says.

"She switched your bodies, didn't she?" Buffy asks. Catherine looks down, defeated.

Giles looks at 'Catherine' in realization. "Good Lord!"

"She wanted to relive her glory days." Buffy says.

'Catherine' looks back up. "She said I was wasting my youth. So she took it."

* * *

They sit on the couch listening as a distraught 'Catherine' explains her story. "I didn't know anything about her powers. I mean, when dad was here they would fight and yell and he would…call her a witch and…I mean, I would, just thought he meant…oh god, when he left I wanted to go with him. But she wouldn't even let me call. She went crazy, I mean, she'd lock herself upstairs for days, and she was always coming down on me, telling me I didn't deserve to have it so easy, and that I didn't know…how hard it was to be her, and…I guess she showed me, huh?"

Buffy takes her hand. "Amy, it's gonna be okay."

"A few months ago, I woke up in h-her bed! I didn't know where I was, and…then I looked in the mirror."

"She locked herself upstairs?" Giles asks.

'Catherine' nods. "Yes."

"Where?"

* * *

Giles breaks in the attic door, and starts to look around.

'Catherine' comes in after him. "Don't! If she finds out I've been here she'll kill me!"

Giles walks around the cauldron to the rack with the hanging dolls. He sees the two dolls bound together for the body-switching spell and takes them in his hand. "My god." He breathes. "I believe we can reverse your mother's spell. Well, all of them, in fact." He lets go of the dolls.

"You could? Really, you could?"

"We need to find her books. There'd be specific volumes she'd need for this kind of casting." He begins to look around some more. He finds a trunk and knocks off the things on top. "Collect those dolls, and, uh, any other personal effects." As he starts to open the trunk, a black cat jumps at him and surprises him. "Ah! Nice kitty." He calms down. "Let's see what you were guarding." He opens the trunk. "Ah, yes!" He takes out a book. "This is it."

* * *

Downstairs; Buffy's head lolls a bit.

Trinity supports her. "You're going to be fine."

Giles and 'Catherine' come back into the living room.

"Did we find?" Buffy asks.

"We found. Come on." Giles says.

Trinity helps Buffy up. "She's getting weaker." She realizes that Buffy is to weak and picks her up in her arms.

'Catherine' looks at them. "But where are you going?"

"We're going to school." Giles looks at her. "And you're coming with us."

* * *

In the gym, the Sunnydale High basketball team comes through the doors and runs onto the court. 'Amy' cheers loudly with a smile on her face. Willow and Xander watch her.

* * *

Trinity carries Buffy into the science classroom and lays Buffy on a table, knocking everything off it in the process.

Giles take off his coat and looks at Buffy. "I'm gonna stop this. I promise." He says, folding his coat up and putting under her head.

"You just hang on." Trinity tells her. Buffy moans as her vision blurs.

Giles goes to the box of books and other things 'Catherine' has set on Dr. Gregory's bench and reaches in to get 'Amy's' spell book.

'Catherine' looks on, concerned. "How is she?"

"We only have a few minutes left." Giles says.

* * *

"Go, Sunnydale go! Go, Sunnydale go! Go! Six, seven, eight!" The cheerleaders yell. "Go Sunnydale go! Go, Sunnydale go! Go, Sunnydale go! Go! Six, seven, eight! Go Sunnydale go! Go, Sunnydale go! Go, Sunnydale go! Go! Six, seven, eight!

"Go Sunnydale go! Go, Sunnydale go! Go, Sunnydale go! Go!" 'Amy' cheers, a wide smile on her face.

* * *

'Catherine' is cutting an eye from a frog, a squeamish look on her face.

"Right! Here we go." Giles says. Trinity looks at Buffy, who is getting weaker. Giles mixes the potion and begins to chant. "The center is dark. Centrum _est obscurus._ The darkness breathes. _Tenebrae respiratis._ The listener hears. Hear me!"

* * *

The cheerleaders are doing a counting chant. 'Amy' stops, startled. Her vision flashes to what 'Catherine' sees in the science lab, the book and the frog. She's back in the gym and takes up the count again, with a worried look on her face.

* * *

"Oh, it's…it's working!" 'Catherine' says.

Giles takes the book up from the table and reads. "Unlock the gate. Let the darkness shine. Cover us with holy fear." 'Catherine' staggers back and covers her face. "Show me…" The lights go out in the classroom.

* * *

Some of the cheerleaders are lifting 'Amy'. Once up, she thrusts her fists into the air and gives the crowd a big smile. Her smile fades as she has another flash to the lab, where she gets a glimpse of Buffy. She comes back to the gym and begins to lose her balance. Xander and Willow watch. The cheerleaders supporting 'Amy' struggle for control, but they collapse. The crowd reacts to the fall. Xander and Willow see everything as well.

"Amy, what's your problem?!" Joy asks, but is taken aback by the glare the girl shoots her.

'Amy' gets up and looks around before running from the gym.

* * *

'Catherine' looks up. "She's coming!"

Trinity and Giles look at her, worried.

* * *

'Amy' violently pushes open a door.

Willow stops her. "Amy!"

"Get out of my way!"

"W-wait! I-I-I need to talk to you, I-I can help you."

"Help me? With what?"

"Uh, well, y'know, all your witchcraft! I, I know this really good cauldron." She stalls as Xander sneaks up behind 'Amy'. "Do you actually ride a broom?" 'Amy' growls and turns around holding her hand out. Xander's hand goes to his throat as he struggles to breathe. 'Amy' makes a fist and twists it, making Xander collapse to the floor, choking. "Xander!"

'Amy' spins back around and punches Willow hard in the face, knocking her to the floor. She starts running to the lab.

* * *

Giles holds his arms up, chanting. "Corsheth and Gilail! The gate is closed! Receive the dark! Release the unworthy! Take of mine energy and be sated!" He plunges his hands into the potion.

* * *

'Amy' slams through another door and continues walking to the lab with a determined look on her face. She tries the door, but it's locked. She yanks at it.

* * *

Giles takes his hands out of the brew. 'Catherine' and Trinity look at the door and see that it's being yanked on. "Be sated! Release the unworthy!" He yells.

* * *

'Amy' stops yanking at the door and finds a fire axe in a glass case. She breaks the glass with her fist and takes out the axe.

* * *

Buffy's eyes close and her head lolls.

Trinity looks at her and lightly slaps her cheek. "Buffy! Stay awake!"

"Release!" Giles yells. 'Amy' begins to chop down the door. "Release!" Buffy still lies prone as Trinity calls her name. 'Amy has now made a hole and reaches through to get the door open. "RELEASE!"

Amy starts to wield the axe, but stops when there's a flash of light and the spells are all broken. She is herself again. She looks around, confused, and steps back, lowering the axe. Buffy has her strength back and gets up from the table. Giles and Trinity sigh in relief.

"Buffy?" Amy asks.

"Amy?"

Catherine lunges at Buffy from the side and tackles her to the floor, knocking her out.

Giles advances, holding his arm out and pointing. "You…you…" He is at a loss for words. Catherine growls and looks at him. She uses her powers to force him back and push a table against him, knocking him down and out. She waves her arm, sending Trinity into a wall.

Amy just stands there watching, still holding the axe in both hands.

Catherine gets up and confronts her. "You! You little brat!"

Amy holds the axe up. "Mom! Please!"

Catherine holds out her hand, and the axe flies from Amy's hands to hers. "How dare you raise your hand to your mother! I gave you birth. I gave up my life so you could drag that worthless carcass around and call it living?" She swings the axe into a lab table. "You've never been anything but trouble. I'm going to put you where you can't make trouble again!"

Buffy jumps up behind Catherine. "Guess what?" Catherine turns to face her. "I feel better!" She punches Catherine, making the woman fly through the air. She lands on a lab table and rolls off, hitting a shelf full of bottles along the way.

She quickly gets up. "That body was mine! Mine!"

Buffy rolls her eyes. "Oh, grow up!"

Catherine growls, holds her arm out toward Buffy and uses her powers to send her flying against the wall. Buffy hits the wall and falls to the floor. She gets up, craning her neck.

Catherine begins to cast a spell. "I shall look upon my enemy!" She glares at Buffy, her eyes pitch black. "I shall look upon her and the dark place will have her soul!" Buffy looks around for a way to stop her. She sees the pole holding up the mirror above her. "Corsheth, take her!"

Buffy does a standing hook kick, knocking the pole out from under the mirror and letting it flop down. Catherine's spell leaps from her hands and is reflected by the mirror back at her. The power of the spell envelops her as she screams. The energy twists around her and disappears with a roar, taking her with it.

Buffy surveys the scene. Amy is badly shaken. Trinity groans as she stands up, holding a hand to her head. Buffy sees Giles unconscious on the floor.

He wakes up. "Well, that was, um, interesting."

Buffy gives him her hand and helps him up. "You guys okay?"

"I'm fine." Amy says.

"I assume the, uh, all the spells are reversed. It was my first casting, so…" He takes a deep breath. "I may have got it wrong."

"You saved my life! You were a god!" Buffy smiles.

"Well, I didn't think you'd pull it off." Amy says.

"But we're glad that you did." Trinity continues.

Suddenly Xander comes rushing in and grabs Amy tightly. "I got her! I got her! Cut her head off!"

Buffy looks at him. "Xander, what are you doing?"

"Saving you?"

"Get your hands off of her."

"But she's evil."

"It wasn't exactly her." Giles tells him.

"I was my mom." Amy says.

"Oh!" He releases her.

Willow rushes in as well, wielding a bat. "Where is she?!"

"Uh, hey Willow! It's cool!" Xander says.

"It is?"

He nods. "Yeah, I took care of it."

The others share a look.

* * *

Buffy scoops her smashed alarm clock into a wastebasket.

Her mother comes in. "I don't get it."

Buffy looks at her. "What?"

"I've been doing a lot of thinking about…where you're coming from, how to relate to you…and I've come to a very simple conclusion; I don't get it."

"I'm inscrutable, huh?"

"You're sixteen. I think there's a, a biological imperative whereby I can't understand you because I'm not sixteen."

"Do you ever wish you could be sixteen again?"

"Oh, that's a frightful notion." She sighs. "Go through all that again? Not even if it helped me understand you." She smiles at her daughter, and Buffy smiles back.

"I love you, mom." She jumps up and kisses her mom on the cheek, then runs from the room.

Joyce watches after her. "I don't get it!" She says to herself.

* * *

At school, Buffy and Amy are walking together. "My dad is _so _impossible! He doesn't ever want me going anywhere! He wants to spend total quantity time together. And I'm, like, 'Dad, I can go out, it's perfectly safe!' But he's got all this guilt about leaving me with my mom. And he's being a total pain." Amy complains.

Buffy smiles at her. "You're loving it."

Amy smiles as well. "Every single minute." They turn a corner. "This Saturday night he wants to stay in and make brownies. Well, the brownies were my idea."

Cordelia comes up behind them. "Hey, I'm really sorry you guys got bumped back to alternate." She stops and reconsiders. "Hold it, wait…no I'm not!"

"Well, I know that I'll miss the intellectual thrill of spelling out words with my arms." Amy says sarcastically.

"Ooh, these crapes are sour!" Cordelia teases before walking away.

Buffy and Amy stop at the trophy case. Amy turns to her. "Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot that you wanted to be on the squad."

Buffy shrugs. "Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot that you wanted to be on the squad."

Amy sighs. "That's for sure." They go around to the front of the case and look at Catherine's picture. "Catherine the Great."

"And there's been no sign of her?"

"That last spell…she said I'd never make trouble again. Wherever she is I don't think we'll have to worry." They both look at Catherine's cheerleading trophy.

"Twisted."

They turn and go. "I'm just happy to have my body back. I'm thinking of getting fat."

"Y'know, I hear that look's in for spring."

They don't see Catherine's eyes moving back and forth in the trophy, muffled noises coming from it.


	4. Teacher's Pet

Chapter Four: Teacher's Pet

At the bronze, a girl screams. A vampire is advancing on Buffy as she backs into a pole. She throws a solid right to his face followed by a left. The vampire isn't fazed. He grabs her and throws her onto a pool table. He leans over to bite her when suddenly; Xander comes up behind him and grabs him by the shoulders, pulling him off of Buffy.

"May I cut in?" He says before bashing the vampire's head into the pool table. He turns him around and punches him in the stomach before hitting him in the face. The vampire falls to the floor, unconscious. Buffy smiles, impressed. Xander offers her his hand to help her off of the pool table. "You alright?"

"Thanks to you!" She slides off of the table and notices Xander's hand. "You hurt your hand! Will you still be able to-"

"Finish my solo and kiss you like you've never been kissed before?" He gives her a wink and starts back to the stage. The vampire gets back up and growls at Buffy. Xander sees him, breaks the leg off of a chair that's been knocked over and throws the makeshift stake at the vampire. Buffy watches the stake fly into the vampire's chest, and he falls dead. She turns her gaze back on Xander. He jumps up onto stage and grabs his guitar to continue his solo.

Buffy looks up at him adoringly and advances to the stage as he plays. "You're drooling."

Xander gives her a confused look.

* * *

"Xander!" Buffy whispers. He wakes up from his daydream and shakes his head, seeing the dark room of the science class and Dr. Gregory presenting slides. She points to the corner of her mouth. "You've got a little…"

He picks up on her gesture and quickly wipes the drool off of his mouth and chin.

"Their ancestors were here long before we were." Dr. Gregory explains. "Their progeny will be here long after we are gone. The simple and ubiquitous ant." He turns off the projector, turns the lights on and begins walking up the aisle. "Now. If you read the homework you should know the two ways that ants communicate." He stops at Xander's lab table and leans on it to face Buffy. "Miss Summers."

She gives a startled look. "Ways that ants communicate."

He nods his head. "Mm-hmm."

She hesitates, put on the spot. "With other ants."

"From the homework." He says. Behind him Willow tries to get Buffy's attention. "Ants are communicating…"

Buffy sees Willow's signals. "Um, uh, uh…" Willow strokes Xander's back, indicating 'touch'. "Touch."

"Mm-hmm."

"And, um…" She looks at Willow again. She is sniffing Xander, indicating 'smell'. She looks at Willow, confused. "B.O?" Several students laugh. Willow gives her a disappointed look.

"Thank God someone finally found the courage to mention that!" Blayne says.

"That would be 'touch' and 'smell', Miss Summers." Dr. Gregory says. "Is there anything else Miss Rosenberg would like to tell you?" Willow quickly turns away in her seat. The bell rings. Dr. Gregory starts to move back to the front of the class. "Alright, chapters six through eight by tomorrow, people." He stops and looks back at Buffy. "Can I see you for a moment?"

Buffy nods.

Trinity stands from her seat. "I need to talk to you later." She says before leaving.

After the other students have left the room, Buffy leans against a lab table.

Dr. Gregory idly reviews his slides. "I gather you had a few problems at your last school?"

"Well, what teenager doesn't?"

"Cut school, get in fights, burn down the gymnasium…Principal Flutie showed me your permanent record." He walks to the front of the class, and Buffy follows him.

"Well, that fire, I mean, there was major extenuating circumstances. Actually, it's, uh, kinda funny!" She gives a nervous laugh.

"Can't wait to see what you're gonna do _here_." He goes to the closet, gets his other glasses from his coat and cleans them.

"Destructo Girl. That's me."

"But I suspect it's gonna be great."

"You mean, 'great' in a bad way?"

Dr. Gregory looks at her, then back at his glasses. "You have a first-rate mind and you can think on your feet. Imagine what you could accomplish if you actually did the-"

"The homework thing."

"The homework thing. I understand you probably have a good excuse for not doing it." He closes the closet and walks back to his lab table. "Amazingly enough, I don't care. I know you can excel in this class, and so I expect no less. Is that clear?"

"Yeah! Sorry."

"Don't be sorry, be smart." He looks at another slide. "And please don't listen to the principal or anyone else's negative opinion about you. Let's make 'em eat that permanent record. What do ya say?" He looks up at Buffy and gives her a little smile.

She smiles back. "Okay! Thanks."

He nods his head as she grabs her bag. "Chapters six through eight!"

Buffy looks back at him with a smile and leaves the classroom.

Dr. Gregory puts the slide down, goes over to turn off the lights and comes back to his slide-viewing plate. While he concentrates on the slides, the closet door opens. He doesn't notice until a large, green mantis claw wraps around his neck. Dr. Gregory looks up behind him and screams. The claw drags him out of his chair. His glasses break as they hit the floor. A moment later his body hits the floor as well.

* * *

Buffy sees Trinity sitting outside and takes a seat next to her. "Hey." She greets. "What did you want to talk about?"

Trinity looks at her for a moment before speaking. "I want you to teach me how to fight."

Buffy's face falters. "What?"

"I want you to train me."

"Trinity…"

The girl sighs. "Look, I may not have slayer strength, but I am stronger than the average human. I have the speed, the strength, the agility; I just…don't know how to put it to the best use. You can help me with that."

"Trinity, it isn't your job to fight all the bad guys, you could get hurt."

"Well I could get killed if I don't know how to protect myself. I want to do all I can to help Buffy. I don't just want to do research. You don't have to go on patrol by yourself all the time. Maybe when I get good enough, you can take some nights off, spend some more time with your mom."

"Trinity-"

"Imagine what could happen if you don't help me. I'm pretty headstrong. I'll take a few classes from some nobody at the 'Y' and then go try my hand at a vampire or something bigger."

Buffy's silent for a moment. "Fine." She sighs. Trinity smiles. "But don't think that I'm going to go easy on you." Trinity nods. "And if you get hurt…we stop." She sees the defiant look on Trinity's face. "Those are my conditions."

Trinity sighs. "Fine." She holds her hand out and Buffy shakes it.

* * *

At the Bronze, the band Superfine is playing.

_The first date's the worst date_

_It's hard to know just what to do_

_And I take you to dinner_

_You don't eat, you just play with your food_

Xander is on the dance floor and looks around. He makes his way to the stage and gives the singer an acknowledging nod and grin.

_And there's something familiar…_The singer shoots him a 'get outta here' look. _About every word you say_

Xander's face falls and he moves away from the stage.

_It's hard to believe it's happened again_

_I already met you_

_And I already met you_

_You're like my last girlfriend_

_Yes, and the girlfriend I had before her_

Xander goes over to the bar where Blayne and his friend are sitting. "Seven, including Cheryl. I'll tell you, though, her sister was lookin' to make it eight!" Blayne brags.

"Ooh, Cheryl's sister? The one in college?" A boy asks.

Blayne nods. "Home for the holidays and lookin' for love! She's not my type, though. Girls really gotta have something to go with me."

"Something like a lobotomy?" Xander interrupts, making the two boys look at him.

"Xander. How many times you score?" Blayne asks.

"Well, uh…"

"It's just a question."

"Are we talking today, or the whole week?" The two boys snicker. Xander spots Buffy, Willow and Trinity coming down the stairs. "Ooh! Duty calls." He leaves the bar and approaches the girls as Blayne and his friend watch. "Babes!" The girls look back at him. He comes up to them with his arms wide open and settles them around Buffy and Willow's shoulders.

"What are you doing?" Buffy asks.

"Work with me here." He says quietly. "Blayne had the nerve to question my manliness. I'm just gonna give him a visual."

Willow throws her arms around him tightly. "We'll show him!"

Xander looks back at Blayne, gives him a thumbs up and puts his arm back around Willow. The two boys seem impressed. Trinity discreetly rolls her eyes at the boys.

Buffy looks away, distracted. "I don't believe it."

"I know, and after all my conquests." Xander says. Buffy walks over to Angel. They look after her. "Who's that?"

Trinity shrugs while Willow speaks. "That must be Angel! I think?"

"That weird guy that warned her about all the vampires?"

"That's him, I'll bet you."

"Well, he's buff! She never said anything about him being buff!"

"You think he's buff?" Trinity asks.

"He's a very attractive man! How come _that_ never came up?"

* * *

Buffy walks up to Angel. "Well, look who's here."

"Hi." He greets.

"I'd say it's nice to see you, but then we both know that's a big fib."

"I won't be long."

"No, you'll just give me a cryptic warning about some exciting new catastrophe, and then disappear into the night. Right?"

"You're cold."

"You can take it."

Angel takes off his jacket. "I mean, you look cold." He puts his jacket around her shoulders.

* * *

"Oh, right!" Xander scoffs, watching the scene. "Give her your jacket. It's a balmy night; no one needs to be trading clothing out there!"

* * *

"A little big on me." Buffy notices cuts on Angel's arm. "What happened?"

"I didn't pay attention."

"To somebody with a big fork?"

"He's coming." He says ominously.

"The Fork Guy?"

"Don't let him corner you. Don't give him a moment's mercy. He'll rip your throat out."

"Okay, I'll give you improved marks for that one. Ripping a throat out, it's a strong visual, it's not cryptic!"

"I have to go." He leaves.

Buffy stares after him. "Sweet dreams to you, too."

* * *

The next morning, Buffy and Giles are walking along in front of the school.

Giles take a bite of his apple. "That's all he said? Fork Guy?"

Buffy nods. "That's all Cryptic Guy said; Fork Guy."

"I think there are too many 'guys' in your life." He laughs. They meet Willow and Trinity, who are sitting on a bench. "I'll see what I can find out." He looks up at the sky. "God, every day here is the same."

"Bright, sunny, beautiful, how ever can we escape this torment?" Buffy says sarcastically. Willow smiles at her as she sits down.

"Really." Giles says. Xander comes up behind as he turns to leave. "Good morning."

"Mornin'." He turns to the girls. "Guess what I just heard in the office? No Dr. Gregory today. Ergo, those of us who blew off our science homework aren't as dumb as we look." He reaches down and flips Willow's book closed. She has to stop it from sliding off of her lap.

"What happened, is he sick?" Buffy asks.

"They didn't say anything about sick, something about missing."

"He's missing?"

"Well, let me think. Um, the cheerleaders were modeling their new short skirts, that kinda got…yeah! Yeah, they said missing." They girls exchange a look. "Which is bad?"

"If something's wrong, yeah!"

"He's one of the only teachers that doesn't think Buffy's a felon." Trinity tells him.

"I'm really sorry, I'm sure he'll…" He sees a young new teacher walk by. "I, uh, huh…" The girls look to see what's distracting him. "Uh, huh… huh…"

The teacher walks up to Xander, who continues to stare at her. "Could you help me?" She asks. Trinity frowns, feeling an uncomfortable chill run through her.

"Uuuuuuhhhhhh…yes!" Xander says. Willow and Buffy give each other amused looks.

"I'm looking for Science…" She checks her schedule. "109."

"Oh! It's, um…" He looks around himself, trying to remember the way. He turns back to the woman and smiles. "I go there every day!" The woman laughs. He looks to the girls for help. "Oh, God, where is it?" Willow and Buffy while Trinity continues to stare at the woman.

Blayne appears and introduces himself. "Hi! Blayne Mall. I'm going there right now. It's not far from the varsity field where I took All-City last year." He gives a smug smile.

"Oh! Thank you, Blayne!" She and Blayne leave.

Xander's gaze follows them for a moment, and then he turns to the girls. "It's funny how the Earth never opens up and swallows you when you want it to." Buffy and Willow nod their heads and give each other a smile.

Buffy turns to Trinity, who stares ahead with a frown on her face. "Are you okay?" She asks.

Trinity blinks and looks at Buffy. "Yeah, just…a weird feeling." She shakes her head. "It's probably nothing."

* * *

In science class, the woman from earlier writes her name on the board. 'Natalie French'. Buffy, Willow, Trinity, and Xander walk in. Buffy spots Dr. Gregory's glasses on the floor and picks them up.

"What's wrong?" Willow asks.

"Dr. Gregory dropped his glasses…why wouldn't he pick them up?" She sets the glasses on the lab table and gives Natalie a glance as she walks to her stool. Trinity takes the seat next to her.

Natalie faces the class. "My name is Natalie French, and I will be substituting for Dr. Gregory."

"Do you know when he's coming back?"

"No, I don't, um…" She checks her roster. "Buffy. They just call and tell me where they want me."

"I'll tell you where I want you." Blayne says in a low voice.

Natalie turns to him. "Excuse me, Blayne?"

"Uh, I was just wondering if you were gonna pick up where Dr. Gregory left off."

She smiles. "Yes. His notes tell me you were right in the middle of insect life." She picks up a mantis mounted in a clear plastic box. "The praying mantis is a fascinating creature. Forced to live alone. Who can tell me why? Buffy?" She puts the mantis back down.

"Well, the words 'bug-ugly' kinda spring to mind." She says, making a few students laugh.

"There is nothing ugly about these unique creatures. The reason they live alone is because they're cannibals."

"Ew!" Buffy makes a disgusted face as do the other students.

"Oh, well, it's hardly their fault." Natalie defends. "It's the way nature designed them; noble, solitary and prolific. Over 1800 species worldwide, and in nearly all of them the female is larger _and _more aggressive than the male."

"Nothing wrong with an aggressive female." Blayne says quietly. Trinity rolls her eyes while Buffy shoots him a look.

Natalie picks up her notebook and starts to walk around the room. "The California Mantis lays her eggs, and then finds a mate…" She looks at Xander and he stares back. "To fertilize them. Once he's played his part, she covers the eggs in a protective sack and attaches it to a leaf or twig out of danger. Now, if she's done her job correctly, in a few months she'll have several hundred offspring." She has made her way back to the front of the class and puts down her notebook. "You know, we should make some model egg sacks for the science fair. Who would like to help me do that after school?" All the boys raise their hands and she gives a pleased smile. "Good!"

Buffy looks at Trinity when she sees the girl squirming in her seat. "Are you _sure_ you're okay?" She asks. Trinity takes several deep breathes but doesn't answer. Buffy looks around before leaning closer to Trinity. "Your eyes!" She whispers.

Trinity looks at her, eyes in golden slits. "What?"

"Your eyes changed!" She looks at Trinity's hands and sees that they are turning into claws. "And your hands." She grabs them and hides them under the table. "What is going on?!"

"I don't know!" Trinity whispers harshly before standing from her seat. "Excuse me." She says, keeping her head down and her fist balled as she rushes out of the classroom.

* * *

Trinity rushes into the library, startling Giles. "Trinity?" He asks. Trinity's eyes blaze and she pants. "What's happened?"

"I've had a really bad feeling."

"What is it?"

Trinity shakes her head. "I don't know." She says. "But I think it has something to do with the new teacher."

He looks at her. "Miss French? She's lovely. In a, a common, extremely well proportioned way. She seems perfectly normal."

"_I _seem perfectly normal." She says and looks at her claws. "Well…not at the moment."

Giles takes his glasses off and cleans them. "Well…I-I guess we should investigate once Buffy gets out of class. You can stay here for the time being."

Trinity sighs in relief. "Thank you."

* * *

Buffy, Willow and Xander are in the lunch line.

"I saw Giles in the hallway." Willow tells them. "He says that Trinity's with him. She's fine now but he'll explain more later."

"I'm glad she's okay." Buffy says before looking at the food. "Hot dog surprise. Be still, my heart."

"Call me old-fashioned, I don't want any more surprises in my hot dogs."

"I wonder what she sees in me." Xander says. "It's probably the quiet good looks coupled with a certain smoky magnetism." Willow raises her eyebrows at him. She turns to Buffy and they smile. "Miss French. You two are probably a little young to understand what an older woman would see in a younger man."

"Oh, I understand." Buffy says.

"Good!" He smiles.

"The younger man is too dumb to wonder why an older woman can't find someone her own age, and too desperate to care about the surgical improvements." She finishes.

Xander looks taken aback. "What surgical improvements?"

Willow smiles at Buffy. "Well, he is young."

"And so terribly innocent!" She teases.

"Hey, those that can, do. Those that can't _laugh _at those who…" He struggles. "Can do."

Blayne comes up next to Xander, getting lots of food. "Gotta carb up for my one-on-one with Miss French today. When's yours? Oh, right, tomorrow. You came in second, I came in first. Guess that's what they call natural selection." He leaves.

"Guess it's what they call a rehearsal!" He calls after him before turning to the girls. "Rehearsal." He laughs lamely, making them smile.

Buffy goes over to get some utensils. As she walks back Cordelia comes in through the exit and bumps into her. "Excuse you!" Cordelia says before going behind the counter, showing a piece of paper to the cafeteria workers. "Medically prescribed lunch. My doctor ships it daily… I'll only be here as long as I can hold my breath." She opens a refrigerator and screams. Inside is a headless body. Buffy and Willow run to see what's wrong. Cordelia backs away from the fridge. "His head! His head!" She cries hysterically. "Oh my god, where's his head?!"

Buffy and Willow arrive to see what's inside. Buffy stares in disbelief. Xander is close behind and has to look away when he sees. Willow looks squeamish. The name on the body's lab coat is 'Dr. Gregory'.

* * *

In the library, Giles pours a glass of water. He brings it over to Buffy, who is sitting on the steps with Willow. Both girls have red rims around their eyes. "Here. Drink this."

Buffy take the class. "Thank you." She takes a sip.

"I've never seen…" Xander trails off, shaken. Giles looks at him. "I mean, I've never seen anything like…that was new."

"Who would wanna hurt Dr. Gregory?" Willow asks.

Trinity shoots a pointed look at Giles. "Yeah, Giles, who would?"

"Uh, he didn't have any enemies on the staff that I'm aware of. He was a civilized man." He tells them. "I liked him."

"So did I." Buffy says.

Willow looks up at Giles. "Well, we're gonna find out who did this. We'll find them and we'll stop them."

"Count on it." Buffy nods.

"Trinity?" Giles says. "I think that you should tell them."

The girl sighs before turning to her friends. "Something about Miss French set me off…bad." She says. "I can't pin point it but something is different."

"How do we know that it's her?" Xander asks. "Maybe whatever killed him was close by and set you off. What else do we know?"

"Oh, not a lot, um…" Buffy sniffs and wipes a tear away. "He was killed here on campus. I'm guessing the last day we saw him."

"How do you work that out?" Giles asks.

"He didn't change his clothing."

"This is a question that no one particularly wants to hear, but… where did they put his head?" Xander asks.

"Good point. I _didn't _wanna hear that." Willow says.

"Angel!" Buffy gets up. "He warned me that something was coming." She takes another sip of water as she walks over to the table.

"Yes. Yes he did, didn't he?" Giles nods. "I wish I knew what he meant. I've been trying to gather more information about the Master, our, uh, local vampire king. There was one oblique reference to a, a, a vampire who displeased the Master and cut his hand off in penance."

"Cut off his hand and replaced it with a fork?" Buffy asks.

"I don't know what he replaced it with."

"So, why would he come after a teacher?" Xander asks.

"I'm not certain he did. There was an incident two nights ago." He walks over to the counter, picks up a newspaper and returns with it. "Uh, involving a homeless person in Weatherly Park. He was practically shredded, but, uh, nothing like Dr. Gregory."

Buffy looks at the paper. "Fork Guy doesn't do heads."

"Not historically."

"And Dr. Gregory's blood wasn't drained."

"So we're back to Miss French." Trinity says. "The lady who gives the neko extra wiggins."

"We don't know that Trinity." Xander defends. "It could just be a cat thing. Maybe you saw a mouse, or someone sprayed water on you, or stole your ball of yarn." He says, making the girl glare at him. "So there's something else out there? Besides 'Silverware man'? Oh, this is fun, we're on Monster Island."

"We're on a Hellmouth. It's a center of mystical convergence." Buffy says walking towards him. "Guess it's the same thing."

"Well, unpleasant things do gravitate here, it's true, but, uh, we don't know there's anything besides this chap. He's still our likely suspect. Though we should look into Miss French as well."

"Where was that guy killed? Weatherly Park?"

"Buffy." Giles walks up to her. "I know you're upset, but, uh, this is no time to go hunting, not until we know more. Please promise me you won't do anything rash?"

"Cross my heart."

* * *

That night at the park, Buffy climbs the fence. She walks through the park, carefully looking around.

A bum suddenly comes up, startling her. "Shouldn't be out here at night, little lady. Dangerous." He leaves.

She notices another bum on the ground in front of a bench and checks him out. He's okay, just asleep. Buffy continues stalking. Dogs bark in the distance. Buffy finds some shrubbery covering a sewer access hole. She moves it aside, and Fork Guy jumps out at her. She rushes backward. He swings with his claw, but misses. She slams her straight arm into his gut, then again into his back. He swings again, but Buffy dodges him. She backhand punches him in the face, does a roundhouse kick to his jaw and backhand punches his face again. He takes another swing at Buffy, but she evades it. She front kicks him. He lunges at her, and she grabs his arm and flips him over onto his back. Buffy tries to stake him, but he rolls away and back onto his feet. She kicks him again, and he staggers backward and falls. Buffy hears voices and turns to see people with flashlights coming over the hill.

"Hold it! Police!" She hears. "Did you see that? I got nothing here!" Buffy looks back and forth between Fork Guy and the posse. The vampire runs off. "I heard it. Spread out. Let's go over here. This way, this way. Alright."

Buffy chases the vampire.

Natalie is walking home with grocery bags in her arms. The vampire stalks her and climbs over the fence. Buffy comes running up. The vampire lands behind Natalie. Buffy reaches the fence and watches. Natalie senses the vampire, stops and turns to face him. Fork Guy hisses and runs away in fear. Natalie watches him go. Buffy's eyes widen in disbelief. The vampire crosses the street, lifts a manhole cover and climbs down. Natalie continues her walk home. Fork Guy pulls the manhole cover back into place. Buffy stares at the scene, mouth agape.

* * *

The next morning in the library, Giles and Trinity look at Buffy.

"You went hunting last night." He says.

She nods. "Yes." He walks into their office and they follow behind them. "When you assured me you wouldn't." He takes a sip from his mug.

"Yes, I lied, I'm a bad person, let's move on."

He opens his file cabinet. "Did you see someone with a fork?"

"More like a jumbo claw."

Giles turns to face her. "Oh. Well, uh, at least you're not hurt."

"And I saw something else. Something much more interesting than your average run-of-the-mill killer vampire." She turns to Trinity. "Looks like you were right." She turns back to Giles. "I'm chasing Claw Guy last night, and Miss French is heading home. The Claw Guy takes one look at her and runs screaming for cover."

"He what? Ran away?" He asks, confused.

Buffy nods. "He was petrified."

"Of Miss French?"

"I told you so!" Trinity says.

Buffy continues. "So I'm an undead monster that can shave with my hand…how many things am I afraid of?"

"Not many. And not substitute teachers, as a rule."

"So what's her deal?"

Giles takes his glasses off. "It seems that you were right Trinity. I think perhaps it would be a good idea if we kept an eye on her."

Buffy turns to the girl. "Do you think that you can handle being in class?"

Trinity nods. "Now that I know to have my guard up I'll be fine."

They rush down the stairs in the hall when they are stop by Principal Flutie.

He looks at Buffy. "You were there. You saw Dr. Gregory, didn't you?"

"Um, you mean yesterday in the cafeteria when we found him-" Buffy starts

"Don't say dead! Or decapitated, or decomposing, I'd stay away from D-words altogether." He looks at Trinity. "And you young lady?"

She looks at Buffy and back. "I missed it. I had an allergic reaction in class."

"Well you should get back." He turns back to Buffy. "But you witnessed the event, so this way, please." He starts walking but Buffy stops him short.

"Well, no, I'm gonna be late for biology-"

"Extremely late!" He continues down the hallway. "You have to see a counselor. Everyone who saw the body has to see a crisis counselor."

"But I really don't need-" But she interrupted. She looks over her shoulder and shoots Trinity a helpless look as she follow him.

"We all need help with our feelings. Otherwise we bottle them up, and before you know it, powerful laxatives are involved. I really believe if we all reach out to one another we can beat this thing. I'm always here if you need a hug." He jumps back. "But not a real hug! Because there's no touching, this school is sensitive to wrong touching."

"But, I really, really don't-"

"No, you have to talk to a counselor and start the healing. You have to heal."

"But Mr. Flutie, I-"

"Heal!" He sits her down in a chair outside of the counselor's office and paces off. Buffy leans back in the chair and looks bummed.

Then she hears Cordelia inside the office. "I don't know what to say, it was really, I mean, one minute you're in your normal life, and then who's in the fridge?" The girl says. It really gets to you, a thing like that. It was… let's just say I haven't been able to eat a thing since yesterday. I think I lost, like, seven and a half ounces? Way swifter than that so-called diet that quack put me on. Oh, I'm not saying that we should kill a teacher every day just so I can lose weight, I'm just saying when tragedy strikes, we have to look on the bright side. You know?" Buffy's face scrunches at the girls venting. "Like, how even used Mercedes still have leather seats!"

* * *

Trinity waits outside the science class. She looks at her hand and sees her claws out.

* * *

Natalie is giving a pop quiz, and is walking along the aisle. "Keep your eyes straight ahead on your own test." She comes up behind Xander. "I think you meant 'pollination' for number fourteen." She whispers and puts a hand on his shoulder. "I'll see you here after school."

Buffy comes running to the class and sees Trinity. "Why aren't you in there?" She asks.

Trinity holds her hand up, showing the claws. "I can't or I'm going to attack her."

Buffy looks through the door window. "Oh, great, a pop quiz." She groans. Natalie suddenly straightens up and turns head around 180 degrees. Buffy's eyes widen and she rolls away from the window.

"What?" Trinity asks.

* * *

Buffy, Willow, and Trinity walk into the library. "No, I'm not saying she craned her neck. We are talking full-on Exorcist twist." Buffy explains.

"Ouch!" Willow says.

"Which reminds me, how come Blayne, who worked with her one-on- one yesterday, isn't here today?"

"Inquiring minds wanna know."

Trinity looks at Giles. "Any luck?" She asks as Willow sits down in front of the PC and begins a search.

"Um, I've not found any creature as yet that strikes terror in a vampire's heart." He says.

"Or sets off the instincts of a neko?"

"Try looking under things that can turn their heads all the way around." Buffy tells him.

"Nothing human can do that." He says.

"No, nothing human. There are some insects that can. Whatever she is, I'm gonna be ready for her." She turns and hops up the stairs to the stacks.

Giles takes off his glasses. "What are you going to do?"

"My homework." She continues up into the stacks. Willow looks up at her and smiles, then continues her search. Buffy comes running back. "Where are the books on bugs?"

* * *

In the science classroom, Natalie is at the desk spreading butter on a slice of bread. She's about to open a plastic container when she hears Xander come in and looks up.

"Hi!" He smiles.

"Oh, Hi! I was just grabbing a snack. Can I fix you something?"

"No thanks, I never…eat when I'm making egg sacks." He sees the model. "Wow, if this were real the bugs would be-"

"As big as you!" She finishes.

"Yeah! So! Where do we start?"

"Oh, Xander." She gets up. "I've done something really stupid. I hope you can forgive me."

"Oh, forgiveness is my middle name! Well, actually it's Lavelle, and I'd appreciate it if you guard that secret with your life." They laugh.

"I have a teacher's conference in half an hour, and I left the paint and paper-mache at home. I don't suppose you'd like to come to my place tonight to work on it there?"

He gulps. "Come to, uh…your place." He flashes to his guitar solo for a moment.

"7:30? Here's my address." She writes it down. Xander can't believe his luck. She hand him the address. "I'll see you tonight?"

"Yeah!" He answers, his voice high and squeaky. He walks out the classroom and pumps his fist into the air. "Ooh, yes!"

* * *

Back inside the classroom, Natalie opens the container. It's full of crickets. She dumps them onto the buttered bread and folds the slice in half. She takes a crunchy bite.

* * *

Buffy comes out of the stacks with a book. "Dig this; 'The praying mantis can rotate its head 180 degrees while waiting for its next meal to walk by.'" She slams the book shut. "Ha!" She looks up but is met with silence. "Well, c'mon, guys. Ha!"

"Well, Miss French is sort of big. For a bug?" Willow says hesitantly.

"And she is, by and large, woman shaped." Giles adds.

Trinity shrugs. "I believe you. Cats don't like praying mantis's."

Buffy sends her a smile and makes her way down the stairs. "Okay. Factoid 1: Only the praying mantis can rotate its head like that. Factoid 2: A pretty whacked-out vampire is scared to death of her. Factoid 3: Her fashion sense screams predator."

"It's the shoulder pads." Willow says.

Buffy nods. "Exactly."

"If you're right, then she'd have to be a shape shifter or a perception distorter." Giles explains. "On a helpful note, I had a chum at Oxford, Carlyle, advanced degrees in entomology mythology."

"Entoma-who?"

"Bugs and fairy tales." He simplifies.

"I knew that."

"If I recall correctly, poor old Carlyle, just before he went mad, claimed there was some beast…"

The PC beeps and Willow's eyes widen. "Buffy, 911! Blayne's mom called the school. He never came home last night."

"The boy who worked with Miss French yesterday?" Giles asks.

"Yeah! If Miss French is responsible for… Xander's supposed to be helping her right now! He's got a crush on a giant insect!"

"Okay, don't panic, I'll warn him. But I need you to hack onto the coroner's office for me." Buffy tells her.

"Well, what are we looking for?"

"Autopsy on Dr. Gregory. I've been trying to figures out these marks that I saw on his corpse… I'm thinking they were teeth. And, uh, these cuddlies?" She points to a picture of a mantis. "Should definitely be brushing after every meal." Willow begins typing and Buffy turns to Giles. "And you were saying something about a beast?"

Giles gets up to go to his office. "Oh, uh, yeah, I just need to make one transatlantic telephone call." He stops and turns back. "Um, this computer invasion that Willow's performing on the coroner's office, one, one assumes it is entirely legal?" The girls answer simultaneously.

"Exactly!"

"Of course!"

"Absolutely!"

"Right." He frowns before turning away. "Wasn't here, didn't see it, couldn't have stopped you."

"Good idea." Buffy nods before heading towards the library doors. She turns to Trinity when she notices the girl following her. "Where are you going?"

"To help. We're going to kill her right?"

"No, it's the middle of the day. _We're _not going to do anything. You're not coming."

"What?! But you said-"

"This is dangerous and you're not ready."

"I'm the one who found out about her in the first place while you all were convinced it was Fork Guy!"

"Trinity, we're not going after her right now, I gotta warn Xander, we'll deal with this later." She leaves.

* * *

Buffy catches up with Xander. "Hey!"

"Hey!" He smiles.

"So, how'd it go with Miss French?"

"Well, it's a bit demanding being her absolute favorite guy in the universe, but I'll muddle through."

"Xander, she's not what she seems."

"I know, she's so much more."

"Okay, um… I'm gonna have to tell you something about her, and I'm gonna need you to really listen, okay?"

"Okay."

"I don't think she's human."

"I see. So if she's not human she's…?"

"Technically? A big bug." She tells him, making him laugh. "This sounds really weird, I'm aware of that…"

"It doesn't sound weird at all, I completely understand. I've met someone, and you're jealous."

"What?"

"Look, there's nothing I can do about it. Uh, there's just this certain chemical thing between Miss French and me."

"I know, I read all about it, it's call, um, a pheromone. It's a chemical attractant that insects give off."

"She's not an insect! She's a woman, okay? And hard as that may be for you to conceive, an actual woman finds me attractive. I realize it's no mystery guy handing out leather jackets, and while we're on the subject, what kind of a girlie name is 'Angel' anyway?"

"What does that have to do with-"

"Nothing! It just kinda bugs me. Look, I really gotta…" He walks off.

Buffy turns and watches him go. "Wha…?"

* * *

That night at Natalie's house, she pours two martinis. The doorbell rings and she smiles, smoothing down her low cut dress before going to answer it. "Hi! Come on in!" She greets. Xander stares at her cleavage as he enters. "Should I change? Is, is this too…" She closes the door.

"No, no, it's, the most beautiful chest… dress I've ever seen."

She smiles and goes back into the living room. Xander follows. "Thank you. That's sweet. Martini?" She offer it him one. "Oh, I'm sorry, would you like something else?" Xander quickly accepts the drink, making her laugh. "I just need to relax a little, I'm kinda nervous around you." She sits down. "You're probably cool as a cucumber!"

Xander sits down as well. "I like cucumbers. Like in that Greek salad thing with the yogurt. Do you like Greek food? I'm exempting Schwarma, of course, I mean, what's that all about? It's a big meat hive." They laugh, he nervously, she playfully. Xander gulps down the martini. "Hhhhhhho! Hello!"

"Cheers." She clinks their glasses. "Can I ask you a personal question?" She puts her glass down and scoots closer to Xander. "Have you ever been with a woman before?"

"You mean, like, in, uh, the same room?"

"You know what I mean."

"Oh, that, uh…w ell, let me think. Um…" He trails off as Natalie runs her fingers though his hair and around his ear. "Yeah, there was, uh… several!" She continues her stroke down to Xander's chin. "I mean, and, uh, quite a few times…and then there was, uh…oh, she was incredibly…no. Uh-uh."

"I know. I can tell."

"You can?"

"Oh, I like it. You might say, I…_need _it."

"Oh! Well, needs should, uh, y'know…needs should definitely be met, as long as it doesn't require ointments the next day, or…" He hears a muffled yell. "Do you hear…?"

She shakes her head. "No."

"Sounds like someone crying."

"I don't hear anything." She takes his hand. "Your hands are so hot!"

Xander flashes to his dream.

* * *

"_Oh, you hurt your hand!" Buffy says._

* * *

Xander comes back. The drink is beginning to affect him. He leans back on the couch. "Buffy. I love Buffy. Wow! So that's a martini, huh?"

"Mm-hmm." She nods.

He sits back up. "Do you hear-"

"Would you like to touch me with those hands?"

He looks at Natalie's hands. "Your hands are sss… really…" He hands morph. "Serrated. Oh, wow, that martini, I… I really think I have to…" Xander falls to the floor, unconscious. Two mantis claws drag him away by his feet.

* * *

Xander wakes up in the basement, locked in a cage. He grabs the bars and pulls himself up. He sees Natalie as a giant mantis preparing her nest. "Miss… French?"

"Please, call me Natalie."

Xander backs away to the other side of the cage.

* * *

At the library, Giles is on the phone. "Frankly, madam, I haven't the faintest idea what time it is, nor do I care. Now, unlock his cell, unstrap him, and bring him to the telephone immediately. This is a matter of life and death!"

Willow stops typing. "Got it! Coroner's report, complete with…yuck!" She says. "Color pictures."

Trinity and Buffy look over her shoulder. "There _are _teeth marks. Which match perfectly the one insect that nips off its prey's head." Buffy says.

"Okay, I-I don't like this."

"Huh! It's the way they feed, head first. It's also the way they mate. The female bites off the male's head while they're-"

"No, no, no! See? Xander's, I like his head! I-it's where you find his eyes, and his hair, and his adorable smile-"

"Hey, hey, take it easy, Willow." Trinity puts a hand on her shoulder.

Buffy nods. "Xander is not in any immediate danger. I saw him leave school. He's probably safe at home right now."

* * *

Xander backs up in his cage and is surprised by Blayne when he reaches the far corner. "Ah! Blayne!"

"Oh god! Oh god!" Blayne cries.

"Are you all right?"

"Oh god!" He pants. "You gotta get me outta here! You gotta! She, she, she gets you, and, uh…"

"What?"

"…she, she…"

"What does she do?"

"Oh god! Oh, oh, no!"

"Blayne! What does she do?"

"She, she… she, she takes you outta the cage, and she ties you up, and, and… she… she starts movin', and throbbin', and these eggs come shootin' out of her! And then…"

"What?"

"And then…"

"Then what?"

"She mates with you!"

"She…"

"That's not the worst part!"

"That's not?"

"You seen her teeth? Right while she's, you know, right in the middle of… I saw her do it! I don't wanna die like that!"

"Blayne! Blayne! Chill! It's okay. It's gonna be okay. We'll get outta this."

"You gotta plan? What is it?" He asks hopefully.

"Just, uh, let me perfect it!"

His face falls, giving up hope. "Oh god…oh god, oh god, oh god."

* * *

Giles is talking with Carlyle on the phone in his office. "I-I understand, Carlyle. Yes… I-I'll take every precaution. Uh, absolutely, i-i-it sounds exactly like the creature you described. Y-you were right all along about everything. Well, n-no, you weren't right about your mother coming back as a Pekinese, but… uh…try to rest, old man. Yes…ta! Bye now!" He hangs up and comes out of his office. Willow, Trinity, and Buffy are at the PC. "Dr. Ferris Carlyle spent years transcribing a lost pre-Germanic language. What he discovered he kept to himself until several teenage boys were murdered in the Cotswold's. Then he went hunting for it.

"It being…?" Buffy asks.

"Uh, he calls her a She-Mantis. This type of creature, the Kleptes-Virgo, or, or virgin-thief, appears in, in many cultures. The Greek sirens, the Celtic sea maidens, who, who tore the living flesh from the bones of, um…"

"Giles, while we're young!"

"Uh, well, basically the, uh, the She-Mantis assumes the form of a beautiful woman and then lures innocent virgins back to her nest."

"Virgins? Well, Xander's not a, uh… I mean, he's probably-"

"Gonna die!" Willow and Trinity say. Willow goes to the phone.

"Okay, okay." Buffy walks around Giles. "So this thing is breeding and we need to find it and snuff it." She faces him. "Any tips on the snuffing part?"

"Uh, Carlyle recommends cleaving all body parts with a sharp blade." He tells her. Willow is on the phone in the background behind Buffy talking to Xander's mom.

"Slice and Dice." Trinity nods.

"Well, whatever you do, it had better be certain and swift. This beast is extremely dangerous." He warns Buffy.

"Well, your buddy Carlyle faced it, and he's still around." She says.

"Yes, in a straitjacket, howling his innards out day and night."

"Okay, Admiral, way to inspire the troops!"

"Sorry…"

Willow walks over. "Xander's not home! He told his mom he was going to his teacher's house to work on a science project. He didn't tell her where."

Buffy turns to Willow. "See if you can get her address off the substitute rolls." She looks at Trinity. "You're coming with me." She turns to Giles. "And you need to record bat sonar, and fast!"

He nods. "Bat sonar, right. What?"

"Bats eat them." She leads Giles to the stairs. "The mantis hears sonar, its entire nervous system goes kaplooey."

"Where am I gonna find the-"

"In the vid library? There're no books, but it's dark and musty, you'll feel right at home, go!" She looks at Trinity. "I guess we'll handle the armory."

* * *

Xander and Blayne are in their cages. Xander is working on one of the bars.

"Don't do anything to make her mad!" Blayne says but his face brightens when Xander pulls the bar out. "Hey, alright, now I can get outta my cage!" His face falls. "Into yours. What'd you do that for?"

"A weapon!" Xander says.

Blayne sees Natalie coming. "I think you're gonna need it."

Xander looks up and is startled. He drops the bar.

* * *

In the library, Miss French's record is coming out of the printer. Buffy and Trinity come in.

"Getting the address." Willow tells them.

Buffy nods. "Great! Giles?"

He holds up a tape recorder. "Recording bat sonar is something soothingly akin to having one's teeth drilled."

Buffy takes the tape recorder. "Let's roll!" They all head for the door.

"According to Miss French's personnel records, she was born in 1907." Willow says.

Trinity looks at her. "She's, like, 90 years old!"

"And extremely well preserved." Giles says.

* * *

Natalie looks back and forth between the boys.

"Oh god!" Blayne goes through the hole into Xander's cage. "Uh, he did that, he broke the cage, take him, not me, take him!"

* * *

Giles, Buffy, Trinity, and Willow pull up to Miss French's house. They get out and run up to the door.

"What now, exactly? We can't just kick the door down." Giles says.

Buffy scoffs. "Yeah, that _would _be wrong." She gets ready to kick, but the door opens.

An old lady looks at them. "Hello, dear! I thought I heard…are you selling something? Because I'd like to help you out, but…you see, I'm on a fixed income."

"I'm looking for Miss French."

The old lady nods. "I'm Miss French."

"Natalie French, the substitute biology teacher?"

She laughs. "Goodness, that's me! I taught for over thirty years. I retired in 1972."

Buffy turns to Giles. "I can't believe this! She used Miss French's records to get into the school. She could be anywhere!"

"No, dear! I'm right here!" The old lady says.

* * *

Xander watches Natalie with wide eyes. "What's she doing?"

"I think it's eeny, meeny, miney…" Blayne trails off.

"Moe?" Xander says, a terrified look on his face.

Natalie opens the door to the cage.

Xander crawls out on his butt, bar in hand. "I'm comin', I'm comin'." Just as he gets out, he swings the bar and hits Natalie as he gets up. She staggers. He runs for the stairs. Halfway up Natalie trips him with her claw, and he tumbles back down the stairs.

* * *

Giles, Willow, Trinity, and Buffy are going back to the car.

"What do we do now?" Willow asks.

"Abject prayer and supplication would spring to mind." Giles says.

"I saw her walking past this park with her grocery bags. She lives in this neighborhood." Buffy tells them.

"I'm gonna start banging on doors." Willow goes to head for the next house but Buffy stops her.

"Wait, no, we do _not _have time for that!"

"We have to do something!"

"We will." She looks at Trinity. "Can you sense her?"

Trinity shakes her head. "I'd have to be really close. I didn't notice her at school until she walked up to us. And I didn't freak out until we were in a closed room together."

Buffy pauses in thought. "I have an idea."

* * *

Buffy lifts up the manhole she saw Claw Guy go in and starts to climb down. "I won't be long."

"Wha…Buffy?" Giles asks.

* * *

Xander is tied up with leather straps. Natalie is in his face.

"Oh, yeah, here it comes!" Blayne cries.

"What? What's happening?!" Xander asks.

"How do you like your eggs, bro, over easy or sunny side up?"

"Eggs? She's gonna lay some…" He sees her lay some eggs and flashes to Natalie's lecture in science class.

* * *

"_The California Mantis lays her eggs, and then finds a mate to fertilize them." Natalie explains._

* * *

Xander looks at the mantis, terrified.

* * *

"Come on, Buffy!" Willow shouts into the manhole.

* * *

There are sounds of Claw Guy swinging his arm and ropes whipping through the air. Buffy pushes Claw Guy out of the bushes. His arms are tied behind his back.

"You!" He glares.

"Me." She shoves him down the street.

* * *

Buffy is pushing Claw Guy down the sidewalk in front of her. Giles, Trinity, and Willow follow. "Come on! Come on, where is she? Which house is it? I know you're afraid of her, I saw you! Come on!" Buffy yells. Claw Guy begins to react to Natalie's presence. "Come on. What? What is it? This is her, isn't it, this is her house? This is it! Better than radar!" She lets go of him. Claw Guy cuts the ropes with his blades.

"Buffy!" Trinity yells.

He swings at Buffy, but she leans back in time, only to trip and fall backward over the miniature picket fence running along the walk to the house. Claw Guy jumps to follow. She crawls backward on her butt until she hits the fence on the other side of the lawn. She rips a picket from the fence and thrusts it into Claw Guy as he takes another swing at her. He falls over dead. Giles breathes a sigh of relief.

* * *

Natalie advances on Xander. "Kiss me!" She laughs. "Kiss me!"

"Can I just say one thing?" He asks. "HEEEELLLLP! HEEEELLLLP!"

Buffy smashes the basement window and slides in.

"Uh, hey, o-over here, hello! In the cage!" Blayne calls.

She pulls her bag though the window. "Let him go!" She orders running down the stairs and sets the bag down. Willow and Trinity climb in the window as well. Buffy pulls two cans of insect spray from the bag and sprays Natalie in the face. Giles climbs in as the girls run behind Buffy to open the cage. The spray disorients Natalie. Giles comes down the stairs now too. Buffy points him at Xander.

"Help me! Help me!" Blayne yells.

"Get them outta here!" She pulls the tape recorder and a machete from her bag.

"Hey, help me! Help me!"

Giles undoes the leather straps holding Xander. Natalie retreats to the back of her nest.

Buffy starts to close in on her. "Remember Dr. Gregory? You scarfed his head? Yeah, well, he taught me, you do your homework, you learn stuff. Like what happens to your nervous system when you hear this!" She plays the tape. It's Giles' voice. Buffy stares at the machine in disbelief.

"…_.extremely important to file not simply alphabetically…"_

She turns to him. "Giles!"

He on the floor, pointing at Natalie. "I-it's the wrong side!"

Natalie knocks the tape recorder and machete from Buffy's hands. Giles watches the recorder fly over him, hit the ground and slide under a refrigerator. He scrambles to get it. Buffy turns her attention back on Natalie.

Trinity hisses and swings her claws at the mantis, who begins to advance on her but Xander sprays a can of bug spray into her face.

Buffy pushes them way from danger, and Natalie takes the opportunity to knock her down. Buffy raises herself onto her hands and one leg, and with the other does two crouching side kicks to Natalie's legs to keep her at bay. Giles searches under the refrigerator. Buffy kicks again. She sees the machete on the floor and grabs it. Giles has the recorder now, jumps around on the floor with the recorder in front of him and plays the tape. The sounds of bat sonar severely hurt and disorient Natalie. She flails her claws around.

"Bat sonar. Makes your whole nervous system go to Hell. You can go there with it!" She slashes at Natalie fiercely and repeatedly with the machete, hacking her to pieces. She's winded afterward. Giles gets up. Willow runs over to Xander. Blayne is out of his cage. They look at the carnage.

"Well, I… I'd say it's deceased." Giles says.

Trinity nods. "And dissected."

Xander turns to Buffy. "You okay?"

"Yeah." She says.

"Just for the record, you were right, I'm an idiot, and God bless you!" Buffy lowers her head. He turns to the others. "And thank you guys, too."

"Yeah, really!" Blayne nods.

"Pleasure." Giles says.

"I'm really glad you're okay. It's so unfair how she only went after virgins." Willow tells them.

Xander laughs and looks back and forth between the girls. "What?"

"I mean, here you guys are, doing the right thing, the smart thing, when a lot of other boys your age…"

"Flag down on that play, babe. I am _not_-" Blayne says but Trinity interrupts him.

"She only eats virgins." She says.

"Well, you see, that's the She-Mantis' modus operandi. Uh, she only preys on the pure." Giles elaborates.

"Well, isn't this a perfect ending to a wonderful day!" Xander says sarcastically.

"My dad's a lawyer. Anyone repeats this to anybody, they're gonna find themselves facing a lawsuit."

"Blayne! Shut up!"

"I don't think it's bad, I think it's really…" Willow hesitates when Xander holds up the machete. "Sweet! It's certainly nothing I'll ever bring up again."

Xander takes the machete over to Natalie's nest, looks it over and starts hacking away at it.

* * *

At the Bronze, Buffy is at the bar wearing Angel's jacket. Angel comes up behind her. Buffy senses him and looks up at him.

He smiles. "I heard a rumor there was, uh, one less vampire walking around making a nuisance of himself."

"There is. Guess I should thank you for the tip." She tells him.

"Pleasure's mine."

"Course, it would make things easier if I knew how to get in touch with you."

"I'll be around."

"Or who you were?" Angel just smiles and moves around to the other side of her. "Well…anyway, you can have your jacket back."

"It looks better on you." He turns and leaves. Buffy stares after him. Angel gives another look back and disappears into the crowd.

"Oh boy." She whispers to herself.

* * *

In science class the next day, there's a new science teacher.

"All midterm papers will be exactly six pages long. No more, no less. One third of your grade will be dependent on those papers. No more, no less." He explains as Buffy daydreams.

The bell rings. Buffy comes back to Earth. Everyone gets up and leaves. On the way out Buffy sees Dr. Gregory's glasses still on the lab bench where she left them. She picks them up and remembers him. She sees Dr. Gregory's jacket still hanging on the hook on the closet door and goes over to put the glasses in a pocket. She closes the door, missing the cluster of She-Mantis eggs attached underneath the lower shelf. One of the eggs hatch.


	5. Never Kill a Boy on the First Date

Chapter Five: Never Kill a Boy on the First Date

In the cemetery, Buffy is watching Trinity fight a vampire. She kicks him in the face with a high roundhouse kick, forcing him to step backward to keep his balance. The vampire does a jumping half-twisting crescent kick, knocking her to the ground.

Buffy intervenes and pulls him away. He tries two punches, and Buffy neatly blocks them. On his third punch she grabs hold of his arm and hits him in the face with a high front snap kick. Letting go of the vampire's arm, Buffy punches him squarely in the midsection and follows up with a swinging punch to his face, sending him to the ground.

"We haven't been properly introduced." She pulls out a stake. "I'm Buffy, and you're history!" She plunges the stake into him as he gets up. He falls and bursts into ashes. She walks over to Trinity and helps her from the ground. "You have to stop leaving your guard open."

Giles pops up from behind a crypt. "Poor technique." He comes around to the girls. "Prioritizing, sub-par…execution was adequate, but a bit too bloody for my taste."

Buffy rolls her eyes. "Giles, don't mention it. It was my _pleasure _to make the world safe for humanity again."

"I'm not saying that your methods are without merit, it's, uh, y-you're spending too much time and energy. It should simply be; plunge, and move on. Plunge and…" He notices something on the ground. "Hello." He bends over to pick up a ring with his pen."

Buffy sees the ring. "Oh, that's great! I kill 'em, you fence their stuff."

"What is it?" Trinity asks.

"I don't know." He says.

"But it bothers you." Buffy states.

"Yes! Well, I…I thought this vampire was just on a random kill, but it may be something else."

"Something big?" Trinity asks.

"Yes. I'd best consult my books."

* * *

The Master slams a book down on his lectern. He opens it and reads. "'And there will be a time of crisis, of worlds hanging in the balance. And in this time shall come the Anointed, the Master's great warrior. And the Slayer will not know him, will not stop him, and he will lead her into Hell.' As it is written, so shall it be." He picks up the book and walks. "'Five will die, and from their ashes the Anointed shall rise. The Brethren of Aurelius shall greet him and usher him to his immortal destiny.'" He stops by one of the brethren. "As it is written, so shall it be. 'And one of the brethren shall go out hunting the night before and get himself killed, because he couldn't wait to finish his job before he ate.' Oh, wait." He grabs one of the brethren by the throat. "That's not written anywhere." He lifts the vampire off his feet. "The Anointed will be my greatest weapon against the Slayer! If you fail to bring him to me, if you allow that girl to stop you…" He throws the vampire into a coffin. "Here endeth the lesson." He slams the book shut and walks off.

* * *

Buffy walks Trinity home. "I did good right?" Trinity asks. "For a first time?"

Buffy nods. "You still have a lot to learn."

Trinity stuffs her hands into her pockets as they walk. "Thanks again…for training me."

"I admit that I was a little skeptical at first, but you have a lot of potential." They fall into silence as they turn a corner. "So your parents never wig about you being out all the time? Your schedule has been pretty flexible."

Trinity takes a moment to answer. "It's easy when you live alone. I'm an orphan."

Buffy stops walking, causing Trinity to stop and look at her. "I'm sorry."

Trinity shrugs. "You didn't know." They continue walking. "It's not really something I talk about much."

"Can I ask how…"

"Did they die?" Trinity finishes. "It was a car accident when I was three."

"You said you lived alone. Are you emancipated?"

Trinity nods. "Have been for almost a year. My parents were _crazy _planners; they had everything set up in case something ever happened to them. Everything was taken care of, money, education, who I'd be living with…I don't remember much about them but they were good." She blinks the tears away.

"What about your guardian? Were they family?"

Trinity shakes her head. "I don't have any other family. They left me in the care of a trusted friend; Carter. He took care of me; made sure I had anything I ever wanted. He was great."

"Why did you get emancipated?"

"He, uh…he didn't know about me…or my parents. He didn't know that we weren't human. I was okay when I was younger but as I started growing up, things started to get harder."

"How?"

"Well, at home is where I feel most comfortable, but I was never really able to be _myself._" As she says that her tail creeps out. Buffy watches it swing back and forth for a moment. "It didn't feel comfortable anymore. Imagine having to where a school uniform, but you're not allowed to take it off when you go home."

"So it was major uncomfortable."

Trinity nods. "The older I got, the more secrets there were. We just ended up drifting apart. I became more independent, he started to spend more time I work…it eventually became too much. I filed for emancipation. The look on his face when I told him…it was like a break up, a divorce. It was hard, but it was a good thing for him. He gets to have his own life now."

"Do you guys still talk?"

"Every now and then we check up on each other. He's in Vermont now. I think he's met someone. I'm happy for him." She says with a small smile. "I finally get to stretch my feline legs and it's a lot easier now when I-" She stops.

Buffy looks at her. "When you what?"

"When I…go into heat." She reveals. "It's easier when I have no one around me."

Buffy looks at her, eyes wide. "Wow." She says.

"Yeah." Trinity sighs and looks out a house. She stops. "Well, this is me."

Buffy looks at the home. "Pretty."

"Thanks." Trinity brushes her hair away from her face. "If you ever need a quick getaway or just need to be out of your house…you're welcome here."

Buffy looks at her. "Really?"

Trinity nods. "Really. You've been helping me a lot, it's only right if I do something in return."

"You don't have to-"

"I want to." Trinity interrupts her. "It's one of the only ways I can show my gratitude without showering you in expensive gifts that you most likely won't accept."

Buffy smiles at her. "Thank you."

"No problem." Trinity starts walking backwards up the walkway. "Get home safe." She says. "We'll see what Giles found tomorrow."

Buffy watches her go inside before continuing on her way home.

* * *

The next morning, Buffy sits in the library, studying the ring. Trinity sits across from her, flipping through a book.

Giles makes his way down to her from the stacks while leafing through a book. "That symbol on the ring…I believe it's the rune for fidelity, but, uh, it doesn't connect with any of the sects that I've studied."

"What about this?" She shows him the ring. "On the inside. It's a sun and three stars. Haven't we seen that somewhere?"

"Let me see." He takes the ring, getting a closer look. "No, I-I don't think this, um, represents any…"

"Wait, it's right here." Trinity says. "Sun and three stars." She shows Buffy the picture.

"Yuck!" The girl says. "Check these guys out." She hands Giles the open book. "Told you it looked familiar."

Giles sees the page. "Oh, the Order of Aurelius. Yes, you're right."

"Ooh, two points for the Slayer and neko, while the Watcher has yet to score!" She says. A boy walks into the library and Buffy slides off the table. "Owen! Hi!"

Giles looks up at Owen. "What do you want?"

"A book?" The boy says.

"Oh!" Giles says.

Buffy looks at him. "See, this is a school, and we have students, and they check out books, and then they learn things."

"I was beginning to suspect that was a myth."

"I lost my Emily. Dickinson." Owen tells him. "It's dumb, but I like her around. Kind of a security blanket."

"I have something like that." Buffy says awkwardly. Trinity hides a smile behind her hand. "Well, it's an actual blanket. Uh, and I don't really carry it around anymore…so! Emily Dickens, huh? She's great!"

"Dickinson." Trinity corrects.

"She's good also."

Giles points to the stacks. "Poetry."

Owen looks at Buffy "I didn't think I'd find you here." He says, heading up the stairs.

Buffy follows after him. "W-why not?"

"I, I didn't mean…I mean…I think you can read."

"Thanks."

"But you don't seem bookwormy." He finds the book. "The type of person to lock themselves in a dark room with a lot of musty old books." He looks up from the book. "Oh, and I've offended you."

"No! No, I'm just surprised you gave any thought to what I'm like."

"You shouldn't be." They walk down the stairs.

"Oh, well, I _love _books. I mean, really _love _books."

Owen sees the book they were consulting earlier on the table and heads over there to take a look. "What's this?"

Trinity picks up the book and closes it. "Not this one. This one she doesn't love."

Giles takes wen's book and heads to the checkout station. "Oh, Emily Dickinson."

"We're both fans." Buffy smiles.

"Yes, uh, she's quite a good poet, I mean for a…" He takes Owen's library card.

"A girl?"

"For an American." He scans the book and library card.

Owen looks at Buffy. "I'll, uh, see you in math…if I open my eyes at some point." He takes the card and book from Giles.

"Cool…" Buffy smiles, watching him leave.

Once he's gone, Giles continues their conversation. "The Order of Aurelius is a very old and venerated sect. If they're here, it's for a good reason."

"That was Owen!"

"Yes, I remember."

"Do you have any more copies of Emily Dickinson? I need one."

Giles sighs, exasperated. "Buffy, while the mere fact of you wanting to check out a book would be grounds for a national holiday, I think we should focus on the problem at hand."

"Right. I'm sorry, you're right. Vampires." She looks down at her dress. "Oh." She looks back up. "Does this outfit make me look fat?"

Trinity sighs and puts a hand on Buffy's shoulder. "That's all we're going to get from her." She tells Giles. "We'll be in class." She steers Buffy towards the door.

* * *

In the cafeteria, Buffy, Willow, and Trinity are paying for lunch.

"Owen Thurman was talking to you?" Willow asks.

Buffy nods. "It's all true."

"Wow! He hardly talks to anyone. He's solitary, mysterious…he can brood for forty minutes straight, I've clocked him."

"He was so nice, it was eerie."

"What did you guys have to talk about?" They walk towards a table.

"Emily Dickinson." Trinity says.

"He reads Emily Dickinson? He's sensitive, yet manly." She looks at Buffy as they sit down. "Well, wait, you've never even read her." Buffy pulls out the book and sets it down for Willow to see. "You vixen!"

Xander holds up his fork. "Has anybody given any thought to what this green stuff is?"

Trinity sniffs it and shakes her head. "Even I can't tell."

"I think it's kale, or possibly string cheese." He lets the fork drop. "So, how'd the slaying go last night?" He asks a little too loudly.

Buffy gives him a stern look. "Xander!"

"I mean, how'd the _laying_ go?" He tries to cover. Trinity snorts and covers her mouth. "No, I don't mean that either."

"It went fine, thank you. There's some new hoidy-toidy vampire sect in town."

"That's bad." Willow says.

"Well, hey, they're bringing in the much needed tourist dollars." Xander sees Owen. "Ooh, look at Mr. Excitement."

Buffy turns to look. "Owen! He's all alone. Maybe somebody should sit with him."

Willow nods. "Mm, just to be polite. Good luck!" Buffy begins to head over.

Xander looks at Willow. "Okay, what just happened?"

Buffy walks over to Owen's table.

Cordelia is coming over as well from another direction. "Look, an empty seat!" She bumps into Buffy, who spills her tray.

"Oh! Ew…"

Owen stands from his seat. "Let me get that." He bends down.

"Thanks!" Buffy smiles, crouching as well. "Boy, Cordelia's hips are wider than I thought!" She jokes.

"Eh-heh." Cordelia laughs sarcastically.

"At least you don't have to eat your Soylent Green." Owen says.

"Owen, a bunch of us are loitering at the Bronze tonight. You there?" Cordelia asks.

He looks at her. "Who's all going?"

"Well, um, I'm gonna be there." She smiles flirtatiously.

"Who else?"

She looks at him, confused. "You mean besides me?"

He turns to Buffy. "Buffy, what about you?"

"What?" She asks.

Cordelia shakes her head. "No, no, no! She, uh, she doesn't like fun."

Owen ignores her. "How 'bout we meet there at eight?"

Buffy smiles. "Yeah! Eight! There!" She puts her empty tray on top of Cordelia's.

* * *

Buffy, Willow, and Trinity walk through the hallway.

"It's not that big a deal." Buffy tells them, feigning nonchalance. "It's just a bunch of people getting together."

"It's a very big deal!" Willow smiles.

"It's not."

"It is." Trinity nods.

Willow sees Giles. "Tell her!"

"I'm afraid it's very big." He says.

Willow smiles at Buffy. "Thank you!" She turns back to Giles, confused. "Wait." They follow Giles into the library. "What are you talking about?"

He looks at her. "What are _you _talking about?"

"Boys!" The girls answer, though Trinity not as enthusiastically as Buffy and Willow.

"Yes, well, I'm talking about trouble. A violent and disturbing prophecy is about to be fulfilled."

"The Order of Aurelius." Trinity says.

He nods and looks at Buffy. "You were spot-on about the connection." He walks over to the table. "I've looked at the writings of Aurelius himself, and he, he prophesied that the brethren of his order would come to the Master and bring him the Anointed."

"Who's that?" Willow asks.

"Well, I-I don't know exactly, a-a-a-a warrior, but, but it says he will rise from the ashes of the Five on the evening of the thousandth day after the Advent of Septus."

"Well, we'll be ready whenever it is." Buffy says.

"Which is tonight."

She nods. "Tonight, okay…" She realizes what he said. "Not okay! It can't be tonight!"

"My calculations are precise."

"Nuh! They're bad calculations! Bad!"

"Buffy has a really important date." Willow tells him.

Buffy nods. "Owen!"

"Alright, I-I'll just jump in my time machine, go back to the twelfth century and ask the vampires to postpone their ancient prophecy for a few days while you take in dinner and a show." He says.

"Okay, at this point you're abusing sarcasm."

"Buffy, this is no ordinary vampire. But we have to stop him before he reaches the Master."

"I'll go." Trinity says.

Giles shakes his head. "This is a job for the Slayer and you're not nearly trained enough to handle this."

Buffy pouts. "But…cute guy! Teenager! Post-pubescent fantasies!"

"Those will just have to be put on hold! The dark forces are aligning against us, and we have a chance to beat them back. Tonight we go into battle!"

* * *

Giles and Buffy are sitting on a large gravestone.

Giles sniffs. "Perhaps I miscalculated."

"I'm thinking yes." She sucks her drink dry.

"Well, you know what they say. Ninety percent of the vampire slaying game is, is waiting."

"You couldn't have told me that ninety percent ago?"

"Well, we, we've certainly waited here long enough." He gets up.

"Besides, there aren't any fresh graves. Who's gonna rise?"

"Apparently no one tonight."

Buffy jumps up. "Then I can bail? I can go to the Bronze and find Owen?"

He sighs. "Oh, very well then. Follow your hormones if you want." She starts to leave. "But I assume I don't have to warn you about the hazards of becoming personally involved with someone who's unaware of your unique condition."

"Yeah, yeah, I read the back of the box."

"If your identity as the Slayer is revealed it could put you and all those around you in grave danger."

"Well, in that case I won't wear my button that says, 'I'm a Slayer. Ask me how!'" Giles shoots her a look. "Good night." She leaves.

"'Five shall die, and from their ashes the Anointed shall rise.'" Giles mutters to himself. "I was sure it was tonight."

* * *

A bus, the passengers ride in silence.

A little boy; Collin speaks. "I went on an airplane."

"A pale horse emerged with death as its rider. You will be judged. You will be judged." Andrew says, gaining strange looks from the passengers.

* * *

Buffy walks into the Bronze and looks around for Owen. The band; Three Day Wheely plays.

…_is real_

_Then you wake up shouting some familiar name_

_It's not the same_

Buffy sees Owen dancing with Cordelia. She looks on, crushed by the sight of them together.

_You're just a girl_

_Just a girl who knows no shame_

_Whose desperate pace has lost its taste_

_A never-ending darkness weighs_

_I can't avoid, I can't complain_

_I know exactly who's to blame_

_The girl who shares my…_

* * *

Andrew stands in the bus aisle. "That day's gonna bring fire. Fire comin' down! Judgment!" He turns to Collin and his mother. "Don't think you're ready, ready to look upon him. If there's sin in there, there's sin all around. It's a liquid. On that day there won't be anybody tellin' us what to do or why we're doin' it. You can't prepare. On that day…"

The driver looks in the mirror. "Hey, you gotta sit down. Okay?"

"Are you willing to stand with the righteous?"

One of the brethren steps in front of the bus. The driver hits the brakes and slams into the vampire. The bus begins to swerve, runs through a sign and hits a pole, which brings it to a stop.

The driver looks back at the passengers. "Is everyone okay?" The passengers look at each other. They all seem shaken but okay. The driver gets out, checking on the victim. "Are you all right?" He kneels down beside him. "Can you move?"

The vampire grabs him by the throat and begins choking him. Another one punches through a window, grabs Andrew by the throat, pulls him out and bites him. The vampires all climb into the bus to get the other people.

* * *

Buffy slams her locker shut and leans against it.

"So you just went home?" Trinity asks.

"What was I supposed to do? Say to Owen, 'Sorry I was late, I was sitting in a cemetery with the librarian waiting for a vampire to rise so I could prevent an evil prophecy from coming to pass?'"

Xander weighs options with his hands the options with his hands. "Or a flat tire?"

They start walking down the hall. "I can't take this anymore." Buffy sighs. "I feel like everyone is staring at me, the big, hideous, dateless monster." She looks at a passing student. "What? Yeah, that's right, I have no life, c'mon, nothin' to see here, pal, move it along!"

"You're acting a little overly, aren't you? I mean, you could have any guy in school."

"He's not any guy. He's more…Oweny."

"Sure, he's got a certain Owenosity, but that's not hard to find." They reach his locker. "I mean, a lotta guys read." He says with a goofy smile. "I can read."

"Comic don't count." Trinity tells him.

Buffy leans against the locker, looking down when Owen comes up to her.

"Hey, Buffy!" He greets.

"Owen!" She smiles.

"Oh, look, it's Owen." Xander mutters to himself but Buffy hears and shoots him a look. "Buffy and Owen. And Xander. That'd be me."

"W-where were you last night?" Owen asks.

"Oh. Well, um, my watch broke and we don't have any clocks in our house and so I didn't know what time it was or even what day it was…" Buffy trails off, inwardly cringing at her excuse.

"I thought I was the only one that happened to. How 'bout we try it again for tonight? I'll even lend you my watch." He hands her his gold pocket watch and chain. Xander looks at the watch, eyes wide in amazement.

Buffy accepts it. "Tonight? Y-you and me?"

Xander looks at his Tweety-Bird wristwatch and Trinity covers it with her hand, shaking her head at him.

"Well, we could invite the chess club, but they drink and they start fights…" Owen jokes.

"Oh, no, it's just…well, I…sort of heard that…you and Cordelia were…somewhat…all over each other. A little…"

"I danced with her a couple of times." He face scrunches in distaste. "She's kinda grabby."

"Oh, well, let's see, if I rearrange that, and I push that to…sure! Tonight'll work!" She smiles.

"Great! I'll pick you up at seven?"

"Um, seven!"

"That's when the little hand's." He points on the pocket watch. "There."

"Oh! Between the six and the eight."

"Um, I'll see you then!" He walks away.

Buffy watches him go, a smile still on her face. "Tonight! Isn't that so?"

"What?" Xander asks.

"Me and Owen." She says dreamily before walking off.

Xander sighs. "Yeah, so it is." He closes his locker. "It sure is so." He turns to Trinity. "Is it me?"

"No." She shakes her head. "You're great."

"What does Owen have that I don't?"

She shrugs. "Some girls are attracted to mystery."

"So I should be more mysterious?"

"You shouldn't change yourself." She tells him. "You're that guy in the background."

"Thank you." He says sarcastically.

"Let me finish. While girls go through their 'I want a dark, mysterious, bad boy' phase; they don't notice the good guy in the background. The one that wears his heart on his sleeve, who knows how to make them laugh, who always has their back."

"Really?" Xander smiles.

She nods. "And usually they don't notice the good guy until he finds someone else. Someone that truly makes them happy." She looks at him. "So even if it doesn't work out with Buffy, it's not over for you. You're a great guy and girls are going to realize that."

He throws an arm over her shoulders. "And all shall bow before my manliness." He jokes, making her laugh. He looks at her. "Thanks."

She smiles. "Any time."

* * *

Giles rubs his forehead as her researches.

Buffy burst into his office. "Hey, how's it going?"

"Uh, alright." He says.

"That's great! I see we're still working on that Anointed One problem, that'll probably take you a few days, right? I mean, that's one obscure prophecy."

"Well, yes, there are a few interpretations-"

"So tonight's looking slow, right? Probably best to relax and regroup, no big disasters coming, that is _so_ good, I will see you tomorrow then! Bye!" She quickly leaves.

Giles watches after her. "She is the strangest girl."

* * *

The Master looks at the brethren. "You have done well. Everything is in place. When this night's work is done, I will have a mighty ally. I'll be one step closer to freeing myself from this… mystical prison." He feels his confines. "I've been trapped down here so long I've nearly forgotten what it's like on the surface. Well, there'll be time enough to remember… when I rule it! If she tries to stop you, kill her. Give your own lives, but do not fail to bring the Anointed. I know you won't disappoint me." He quickly grabs a fly from the air. "Bug!"

* * *

Buffy stands in her bathrobe. Willow helps her decide on an outfit. "Pick."

Buffy turns to Xander and Trinity, who watch from the bed. "Okay." Willow holds up one dress in front of her. "Do I wanna appear shy, coy, and naïve or…" Willow holds up another. "Unrestrained, insatiable, and aggressive."

"Uh, y'know, Owen is a little home spun." Xander stands up. "He probably doesn't like that overly assertive look." He goes to her closet. "Oh, hey, here's something. A nice comfy overcoat and a ski cap!" He holds them up to her. "The earflaps will bring out your eyes."

Buffy and Willow exchange a look before looking at Trinity. "What do you think?"

"Mix them. If you dress too safe, he'll think you're boring; if you dress too aggressive, he'll think you're easy."

Buffy nods and picks up two lipsticks from her desk. She turns to Xander. "Okay, guy's opinion; which one do you think Owen will like better? The red or the peach?"

"Oh, you mean for kissing you and then telling all his friends how easy you are so the whole school loses respect for you and then talks behind your back?" He asks. "The red's fine."

"Thanks. I'll go with the peach." She puts on the lipstick.

Willow hands Buffy a third dress. "Here, put this on." They look at Xander.

"You're not bothering me." He says.

Trinity sighs and stands from the bed. She walks over to Xander and pushes him away. They turn around, facing away from the girls.

"So, where's he taking you?" Willow asks.

"Oh, I don't know. Where do you suppose young kids go on dates these days?" Buffy says, untying her bathrobe.

Xander goes over to her drawer chest and tries to angle the mirror inside a box so he can see. Trinity walks up to him and smacks in upside the head, pulling him away from the box.

"Well, I read somewhere once that sometimes they go to movies." Willow says.

Buffy finishes putting on her dress. "Movies! Interesting!"

"And I saw on TV once, a bunch of people our age went to a party."

"Wow! I never knew being a teenager was so full of possibilities!" Buffy pulls on her boots. The doorbell rings and she jumps up. "That's Owen!"

* * *

Buffy opens the door and her smile falls. "That's Giles."

"We need to talk." He tells her.

"Buffy's not home." She tries to close the door but Giles pushes it open and comes in. "My calculations may not have been as far off as I thought." He holds up a newspaper.

"'Five Die in Van Accident'?" She reads.

"'Out of the ashes of five shall rise the one'. That's the prophecy. Five people have died!

"In a car crash."

"I know it doesn't quite follow, but, but it's worth investigating. Look! Among the dead was Andrew Borba, whom the police sought for questioning in a double murder. Now, he may be the Anointed One. The, the bodies have been taken to, to Sunnydale Funeral Home, w-we can-"

"Giles, why do you wanna hurt me?"

"I beg your pardon?"

Owen shows up at the open door. "Hey!" He walks in and sees Giles. "Uh, hi?"

Giles looks at him and turns back to Buffy. "You have a date?"

"Yes, but I will return those overdue books by tomorrow." Buffy says, ending the previous conversation.

Giles frowns. "Wait, you're not getting off that easily."

"Man, you really care about your work." Owen says.

"Uh, Owen?" Willow calls.

Xander nods. "Yeah, a couple of things about tonight."

Willow, Trinity, and Xander lead Owen into the living room.

"Another date? Don't you ever do anything else?" Giles asks.

Buffy rolls her eyes. "This is the first date! There's never been a date, okay? This is my maiden voyage!"

* * *

"What, she doesn't like to dance?" Owen asks.

"Well, it's a little too late to do anything about that. Uh, you should probably know that Buffy doesn't like to be kissed. Actually she doesn't like to be touched."

"Xander!" Willow says. Trinity rolls her eyes at her friends attempt to sabotage Buffy's date.

"As a matter of fact, don't even look at her."

* * *

"We don't even know if this is anything." Buffy says.

"No, we don't."

"And I haven't had a day off in a while."

"True."

"And a cranky Slayer is a careless Slayer!"

Giles sighs. "Buffy, maintaining a normal social life as a Slayer… i-i-is problematic at best."

"This is the 90's. The 1990's, in point of fact, and I can do both. Clark Kent has a job. I just wanna go on a date."

"Well, I, I suppose it was a fairly slim lead…"

She gives him a pleased smile. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! And look, I won't go far, okay? If the apocalypse comes, beep me."

Owen comes back. "Is everything cool?"

Buffy nods. "All set."

"Yes, and, uh, you'll face a pretty hefty fine in the morning." Giles tells her.

"Well, bye. Don't wait up." She leaves with Owen.

Willow looks at Giles. "Is something going on?"

"Oh, uh, probably not, no. I, uh, I suppose I'll just, uh, go to the funeral home in case, just see if anything comes up." He leaves.

"This is bad." Willow says, concerned.

"I wish it was just bad." Xander says.

Trinity picks up her jacket. "We should go along."

"Yeah, you're right. I don't trust that Owen guy. It's the eyes. Crazy!"

"Xander, we should go with Giles!" Willow says. "He could get in trouble!"

"Oh, he's gone, uh, it's, he's gonna be alright. He's like super librarian, y'know? Everyone forgets, Willow, that knowledge is the ultimate weapon."

"Not if he's right about the prophecy." Trinity says.

"What?"

"If he's right, then the Master's right hand man is supposed to rise tonight."

* * *

Owen and Buffy sit at a table while Velvet Chain plays.

_I'll be right along_

_'Cause, baby, you're so strong_

"The thing about Emily Dickinson I love is, is she's just so incredibly morbid. A lot of loss, a lot of death…it gets me. With a lot about bees, for some reason." Owen says.

"Did she have a tragic and romantic life? With a lotta bees?" Buffy asks.

"Quiet. Kind of sequestered and uneventful. Which I can really relate to. I… don't get out much."

"I don't get that."

"It's my fault. I just find most girls pretty frivolous. I mean, there's a lot more important things in life than dating, y'know?" He sees Buffy looks down at her beeper. "Oh. Did I say something wrong?"

"Uh, no! Come on." She leads Owen to the dance floor.

_Baby, baby, I know it's always been so_

_Physical love is, oh, so meaningful for you_

Buffy and Owen dance close.

"It's weird." He says.

"What is?" She asks.

"You. One minute you're right there. I've got you figured. The next, it's like you're two people."

"Really? Which one do you like better?"

"I'll let you know."

_So strong_

_Baby, I'm yours_

_You know_

_Because you're so_

_So strong_

Cordelia walks into the Bronze with her friends and sees Buffy with Owen. "Aren't there laws against this sort of thing?" She walks over to them. "Owen! Look at you, here all alone."

_You're so, so strong_

He looks at her. "Cordelia, I'm here with Buffy."

"Oh! Okay. Do you wanna dance?"

"No, I'm still here with Buffy."

"You are so good to help the needy."

"Cordelia, Owen and I would like to be alone right now, and for that to happen, you would have to go somewhere that's away." Buffy tells her.

Cordelia glares at her and turns her attention back to Owen. "Well, when you're ready for the big leagues, let me know." She walks away.

_You would suffer, suffer for me_

* * *

Giles drives to the Sunnydale Funeral Home. He slings a bag over his shoulder as he gets out. He looks around and continues towards the building but stops when a chill runs up his spine. He looks around again but sees nothing. As he turns back he sees one of the Brethren in front of him and starts to back away but another is behind him. "Damn." He curses and pulls a cross from his bag. He holds it up and they cower away in pain. He makes a dash for the building.

Giles looks around and puts his cross back into his bag. He runs to the flower room door and finds it locked. The brethren come into the building after him.

* * *

_I have a window in my mind_

_I can turn to look right through you_

"Are you, uh, having fun?" Owen asks.

Buffy nods. "Yeah. I almost feel like a girl."

_Won't cost you anything but time_

_To see me feel like you do_

They smile at each other and continue to dance.

* * *

Giles finds the door to the morgue unlocked and rushes in. He slams the door behind him and looks around. He grabs a filing cabinet, tilts it and drags it over to block the door. It works, the brethren can't readily open it. Giles looks around for a way out. The windows are barred. He sees Willow, Trinity, and Xander through the bars. "Ah!"

They raise the window sash. "Giles, it us!" Willow says.

"What are you doing here?"

"We saw two guys going in after you." Xander tells him. "Are they…?"

Giles looks at the door. "They are." He turns back. "Uh, listen, you should get to safety."

"Can you get out this window?" Willow asks.

He tests the bars. "I'm afraid not."

"Trinity?" Willow asks.

Trinity pulls on the bars and shakes her head. "This looks like a job for Buffy."

"Uh, she has her, her…beeping thing!" Giles says, looking around. "Um, no phone, of course."

"Look, we'll get her, just, uh, hang in there." Xander says and they leave.

* * *

Owen and Buffy are standing by the stairs.

"Do you want something to eat?" He asks.

She nods. "Sure. Just make it something fattening."

Cordelia looks on from the shadows by the door. "What a disgusting display. Is that really appropriate behavior in a public forum? I mean, I've never seen a girl throw herself at a guy like that. Ugh!" She complains to her friends before seeing Angel walk in. "Ooh, hello salty goodness!" She turns to her friends. "Pick up the phone, call 911. That boy is gonna need some serious oxygen after I'm through with him." She starts after him but stops when she sees him go over to Buffy.

"Buffy." He greets.

She looks at him. "Angel."

"Why is this happening to me?" Cordelia mutters to herself.

"I was hoping I'd find you here." He says.

"You were?" Buffy asks.

"Some serious stuff happening tonight. You need to be out there."

"No, not you, too." She tries to leave but he stops her.

"What do you know?"

"Prophecy, Anointed One, yada, yada, yada."

"So you know. Fine. I just thought I'd warn you."

"Warn me? You see that guy over there at the bar?" She walks around him, looking at Owen. "He came here to be with me."

"You're here on a date?" He asks, hiding the hurt in his voice.

She turns to him. "Yes! Why is it such a shock to everyone?"

Owen returns. "Here you go."

She looks between Angel and Owen. "Um, Owen, this is Angel. Angel, this is Owen." She puts her arm around him. "Who is my date."

"Hey." Angel says.

"Hey! So…where do you know Buffy from?" He asks.

"Work."

He turns to Buffy. "You work?"

Willow and Xander run up to them, out of breath. "Buffy!"

"Look at this. You show up everywhere. Interesting." Owen says.

Xander points at him. "You don't know the half of it." He points to Angel. "What's he doing here?"

"I guess it's the same thing you're doin' here." Angel says.

"Uh, excuse me, what are _any _of you doing here?" Buffy asks.

"Look, we gotta get to, uh…" Xander trails off and Willow nudges him. "Uh…we thought it'd be fun if, uh, we made this a double date!" He and Willow wrap their arms around each other.

Buffy sends them a skeptical look. "I didn't know you guys were seeing each other."

"Oh, yeah, well, we knew it would happen eventually, so we figured, hey! Why fight it?" Willow says.

"And you guys are thinking double?" Owen asks.

Xander nods. "'Cause of…" He laughs nervously. "The fun!"

He turns to Angel. "And you're here because of work?"

"Hey, maybe we should all go somewhere together." Xander says.

"Gee, that's so nice of you to ask, but Owen and I were, well, sort of…" Buffy trails off. "Owen and I."

"You know what'd be cool? The Sunnydale Funeral Home!"

Willow nods. "I've always wanted to go there!"

"The funeral home?" Buffy asks.

Owen smiles. "Actually, that sounds kinda cool! Do you think we could all sneak in?"

"We saw some guys in there before." Xander looks at Buffy. "They seemed to be having fun!" He says pointedly.

"Bite me!" She mutters to herself. Angel sends her an 'I told you so' look. She sighs. "Um, Owen, I gotta go."

"I thought we were going to the funeral home." He says.

"No, you can't. I'll tell you what. I'll be back in a little while."

"Buffy…" He leads her away. "What's the deal? Do you wanna bail on me?"

"No! No. No…uh…you remember when you said I was like two different people? Well, one of them has to go. But the other one is having a really, really good time, and will come back. I promise."

Owen just nods his head and watches her go. She comes back and kisses him before heading away. He turns to Angel. "She's the strangest girl!"

* * *

Trinity walks down the stairs and sees Willow, Xander, and Buffy. "Great! You found her." They leave.

* * *

They walk through the front door of the funeral home.

"Which way?" Buffy asks.

"The room's around back." Willow says. They go off to their left and turn a corner, meeting a dead end.

Trinity turns around and sees Owen. "What the hell?" She says making the others turn around.

"This is so cool!" He says.

"Uh, Owen! You can't be here!" Buffy tells him.

"Oh, and I suppose you guys are allowed? What are we doin' here? Are we gonna see a dead body?"

"Possibly several." She turns to the others. "Guys, watch him." She runs back the way they came.

"Is she mad?"

"Oh, she just wants to make sure there're no guards so we don't get in trouble." Willow says.

"Good thinking."

"Good thinking." Trinity whispers to her as they start after Buffy.

* * *

Buffy quietly walks down the halls. She finds the morgue door open and goes in, the room is wrecked. "Giles?" She calls. His bag is on the autopsy gurney. The window bars are torn open. She finds his cross. Suddenly one of the doors to a body storage drawer opens in front of her, and the drawer rolls out. Buffy jumps back, startled. "Giles!"

"It _is _you. Oh, good." He sighs in relief.

"What happened?"

"Uh, two more of the brethren came in here. They came after me. But I was more than a match for them."

"Meaning…?"

"I hid. Uh, this, uh, chap was good enough to bunk with me till they went away." He jumps down off of the cadaver.

"Well, w-were they here after you, or w-was it that prophecy thing?"

"Ah, well, that's what we have to find out. I don't know what these brethren mean to do exactly. Find the Anointed, or, or, or, or give him something perhaps, uh, it's all, all very vague. And the Anointed may be long gone!"

"But he may not be."

"We must find out."

"Okay, I just need to get Owen and the others out of harm's way first."

He looks at her. "Owen? You brought a date?"

She sighs. "I didn't bring him, he came."

"Buffy, when I said you could slay vampires and have a social life, I didn't mean at the same time."

"I know. I'll get rid of him." She starts to leave.

"Y-you can't make him go out there alone, we don't know where the brethren are. I-I'll just…"

"No! No, Giles, he sees you, he's gonna have more questions than he already does right now. I'll take care of it." She runs out into the hall and looks around for the others. They come around a corner and see her.

"Is everything okay?" Willow asks.

"It is." She nods.

"And we'll be leaving?" Xander asks.

"We're not done lookin' around yet!" Owen says.

"No, he's right. So let's find a nice, safe, fun room to look around in." Buffy says taking Owen's hand. She leads them down a hall, to an office door.

"We tried the office here, but it's locked."

She breaks the lock. "No it's not." She goes in.

"Well, I don't think we'll find much in here."

She looks around. "That's the plan."

"Okay, what?" He asks, confused.

"I have to go now." She laughs nervously. "Um, to the bathroom, I have to go to the bathroom. If you hear anything, like a security guard or something, just be really quiet." She turns to the others. "And barricade the door." She says quietly.

She goes to leave but Trinity stops her. "I'm going with you."

"No."

"I can help."

"You need to stay here."

"Buffy-"

"You're the only one who can protect them. I need you here."

Trinity looks at her before nodding. "Okay." She says, letting Buffy leave and shuts the door.

* * *

Buffy and Giles start looking through the body drawers in the morgue, hoping to find the Anointed One.

She opens one. "Ew, parts!"

"Keep looking, he must be here somewhere." Giles says.

* * *

Willow, Trinity, and Xander start to pile furniture in front of the office door.

"What are you guys doing?" Owen asks.

"Uh, just in case!" Willow says.

Owen sees a curtain and draws it open. Behind the window he sees a body covered with a sheet. "Oh, my…"

The others turn around and look.

* * *

Giles opens the last drawer and Buffy pulls it out only to find it empty.

"Nothing." She says.

"The Anointed must be gone." Giles tells her.

"I guess. I mean, this is where they keep all the dead bodies, right?"

"Mm-hmm."

* * *

Owen looks at the body in fascination while Willow, Trinity, and Xander look on, worried. "I read a lot about death, but… but I've… never really seen a dead body before." He says. The body's hand moves. "Do they… usually move?"

Trinity, Willow, and Xander take a closer look. The hand reaches up and pulls the sheet off.

Andrew; now a vampire, sits up and faces them. He stands up, looks down at himself and flexes his hands. He looks back up at them. "I have been judged!"

"What's goin' on?" Owen asks as they slowly back away from the window.

Andrew walks closer and smashes the window with his forehead.

* * *

Buffy and Giles turn around, hearing glass shatter. "Oh, no." She starts running to the office.

* * *

Andrew laughs. "He is risen in me! He fills my head with song!"

Owen, Willow, Trinity, and Xander frantically begin moving the furniture away from the door.

Andrew steps through the opening. "Pork and beans. Pork and beans!"

"Gimme that." Xander takes a piece of furniture from Willow.

"I can smell you."

They finish moving the furniture and Trinity opens the door, letting the other run out before following after them.

Andrew follows at a quick pace. "You're the chaff, unblessed. I'll suck the blood from your hearts, he says I may!"

They run into Buffy. "He's in there." Xander points.

"Uh, go! Get out!" She says.

Owen lags but Trinity urges him on. "She'll be okay. C'mon!" They continue running.

Buffy tries to find Andrew. She can hear him singing as he comes down the hall toward her.

_Shall we gather at the river?_

_The beautiful, the beautiful river._

She decides to try to head him off another way.

* * *

Xander, Willow, Trinity, and Owen find the exit, but are blocked by the brethren. Willow screams. Xander pulls her around and behind himself. Trinity readies herself in a fighting stance. Instead of attacking, the brethren close the gates. The hall is empty, but they can hear Andrew singing.

"I think he's coming this way!" Willow says and they run only to find themselves at the same dead end as when they first go there.

"Oh god, this is too much!" Owen groans.

* * *

Buffy rushes into the morgue. "What've you got?"

Giles looks at her. "What?"

"What'd you bring? Do you have a stake?"

"Oh, uh…" He hands her a stake.

"Thank you!" She starts to leave.

"W-what should I do?"

She turns around. "Um, go outside and make sure the others are okay."

Andrew comes up behind Buffy, grabs her and throws her into a cabinet. She hits the floor, unconscious.

Giles rushes to her aid. "Buffy!"

* * *

"Somebody's gotta help Buffy!" Owen says and runs to the morgue.

"Owen!" Willow calls and they follow after them.

* * *

Buffy wakes up as Andrew approaches Giles.

"They told me about you while I was sleeping." He says. Giles holds up a cross and he backs away in pain. "Ugh! Why does he hurt me?" He slaps Giles' hand away, and the cross goes flying. He grabs Giles and throws him into the crematory controls. The fires in the chamber light. Giles falls to the floor, unconscious. Andrew bends down and picks Buffy up.

Owen runs in. "Buffy!" He sees Andrew raises her above his head. "No!" He grabs a tray and swings it into Andrew's back, stunning him.

His knees buckle and he lets go of Buffy. She staggers into an open body drawer door and falls down, unconscious. Andrew turns, grabs Owen by the neck and growls as he moves in to bite him.

Owen grabs an urn from a rack and smashes it over Andrew's head, knocking him to the floor. He goes over to Buffy and helps her up. "Did you see that? He tried to bite me! What a sissy."

Suddenly Andrew gets back up, grabs Owen and smashes a body drawer door into the back of his head. Owen's body goes limp.

"No!" Buffy yells.

"Dead." Andrew lets Owen fall. "He was found wanting."

Buffy gets him solidly in the gut with a front snap kick. He rolls over the autopsy gurney and onto the floor. She runs around to the far end of the gurney. Andrew quickly gets up. She pushes the gurney into his gut, and then pushes down on her end so it pivots up to hit him in the chin. He staggers back and falls. She jumps up onto the gurney and does a roundoff onto the floor as he gets up. He swings widely at Buffy's face, but she blocks it. He tries again with his other arm, hitting Buffy solidly in the face and knocking her to the ground. He taunts her as she quickly gets up.

"You killed my date!" She says.

Willow, Trinity, and Xander run in. Trinity sees Owen begin to move. "Buffy! Owen's-"

Xander puts a hand on her shoulder. "J-just give her a sec."

Buffy blocks another punch, and then hits Andrew in the face with an open-hand punch. Blocking a second punch from him, she hits him in the gut with another open-hand punch. As he leans forward from the pain, she knees him in the gut, and then shoves him backward into a counter. "You killed my date!" She says again. Giles regains consciousness.

Andrew turns back to Buffy. "Your turn!" He lunges at Buffy, but she sidesteps him and uses his forward momentum to launch him into the air. He lands on the gurney, and it rolls over to the crematory. The gurney stops when it hits, but Andrew continues to slide through the open door. Giles kicks the gurney away and slams the crematory door shut. Andrew screams. Buffy watches him burn through the small window. Then she notices Owen trying to sit up.

"Does anyone have an aspirin? Or sixty?" He groans.

Buffy goes to him. "Owen." She crouches beside him.

"What happened to that guy?"

"Oh…we scared him away."

"Oh, good. 'Cause, y'know, I would've-"

"I know. Here." She helps him up. "I'm sure this isn't exactly what you had in mind for our first date."

He rubs his head. "Yeah. I was hoping maybe we'd finish at Ben&Jerry's.

"We still could."

"No, I, I, I think I'll just walk home." He starts to go but stops. "Uh, which way's home?"

"I'll get you there."

"No, I'll…I'll go it alone."

Willow and Xander come over. "We'll make sure he gets home safely." He says and they lead him away. Buffy watches them go. Trinity glares at Owen's back.

Giles walks over to Buffy. "Buffy, if I might, uh-"

"Don't." She cuts him off and slowly walks out the room. Trinity shares a look with Giles before walking after her.

* * *

Buffy and Trinity walk down the street in silence. After a long moment Trinity speaks. "It'll happen for you, y'know."

Buffy looks at her. "What?"

"Love." She says. "It'll happen for you." Buffy shakes her head and looks ahead. Trinity sighs. "I know you don't want to hear this, but there are other fish in the sea. There are _stronger _fish in the sea. You're going to meet someone who can handle this life."

"Why do you think that?"

Trinity looks at her. "Because you're _you_." She tells her. "You're not just Buffy the Vampire Slayer. You're a great daughter, friend, protector. You have all this pressure on you, yet you can smile and go along with your day like any other teenager. That's amazing."

"Thank you." Buffy says quietly. Trinity shrugs. "What about you?"

"What about me?"

"You're so sure that I'm going to find love. What about you?"

"I'm pretty sure I'll love anybody who doesn't freak out when they see my tail." She jokes, making them laugh.

"Really, what do you look for in a girl?"

She shrugs again. "She has to make me laugh. Know how to handle her own, she has to be fun…wild." She ducks her head. "I don't know."

"Seems pretty clear."

"I guess. We both have our problems. We just need to wait for that special someone who'll accept us." They stop at her house. "It'll get better."

"Yeah." Buffy nods.

"Goodnight."

"Night." They part ways.

* * *

At school the next day, Buffy, Willow, Trinity, and Xander walk along the balcony.

"Well, did Owen say anything about me on the way home?" Buffy asks.

"Oh, you mean specifically about you?" Willow says.

"Or generally…i-in the area, in the ballpark, any sort of indication?" They round the corner and start down the stairs.

"Well, in that case, no." Xander tells her.

"But he was pretty incoherent, so we might've missed it." Willow says, trying to lift Buffy's spirit.

"You think?" She asks.

"No." Xander says.

Buffy sighs. "I knew it. I totally blew it last night."

"No, see, what you need is a guy who already knows your deepest, darkest secrets and still says, 'Hey! I like that girl!' Someone like-"

"Owen!" She interrupts, seeing him walking up to her.

"Well." Willow laughs nervously. "This is our stop." She and Trinity walk away. Xander attempts to stay but Willow drags him along.

"Hi." Owen greets.

"Hi." Buffy smiles. They suffer an awkward pause. "This is going well."

"I don't really know how to say this, but…about last night-"

"You don't even have to. I'm sure you were pretty freaked out."

"Totally." He agrees. Buffy looks down. "And…I was wondering when I could see you again."

She looks back up. "Um, that was my hopeful ear. Could you repeat that?"

"I think you're the coolest!"

She smiles. "Really?"

"I mean, last night was incredible! I never thought nearly getting killed would make me feel so…alive!"

Her face falls and she starts to walk. "So that's why you wanna be with me."

He follows after her. "Oh, absolutely! When can we do something like that again?"

"Something like…"

"Like, walk downtown at three in the morning, a-and pick a fight in a bar. How about tonight?"

"Tonight would…" They stop walking. "Be…not a workable thing. Did I just say that?"

"Tomorrow, then. I-I'm free any night this week."

"I'm not. Please don't take this personally. It's not you, it's me."

His face falls. "Right. It's you."

"And I was kinda hoping that…maybe you and I could still be-"

"I-I get it. You just wanna be friends." He says, disappointed.

"That'd be nice."

"Friends. Yeah. Great." He leaves.

"Yeah. Great."

Giles comes up behind her. They watch Owen leave. Buffy notices Giles and looks at him. He's at a loss. She goes over to sit on a bench. Giles follows her. "I was ten years old when my father told me I was destined to be a Watcher." He sits next to her. "He was one, and his, uh, mother before him, and I was to be next."

"Were you thrilled beyond all measure?"

"No, I had very definite plans about my future. I was going to be a fighter pilot. Or possibly a grocer. Well, uh…my father gave me a very tiresome speech about, uh, responsibility and sacrifice."

"Sacrifice, huh?"

He looks towards Owen. "Seems like a nice lad."

"Yeah. But he wants to be danger man. You, Xander, Trinity, Willow, you guys…you guys know the score, you're careful. Two days in my world and Owen really _would _get himself killed. Or I'd get him killed." She turns towards him. "Or someone else."

"I, I went to the funeral home of my own free will."

"And I should've been there."

"Buffy-"

"I blew it!"

"I have volumes of lore, of prophecies, of predictions. But I don't have an instruction manual. We feel our way as we go along. And, I must say, as a Slayer, you're, you're doing…pretty well."

She smiles. "Well. At least I did stop that prophecy thing from coming true."

"You did! Handily. No more Anointed One. And I would imagine the Master, wherever he is, is having a fairly bad day himself." He smiles, making Buffy laugh.

* * *

The Master reads the scripture. "'And in this time will come the Anointed. And the Slayer will not know him. She will not stop him, and he will lead her into hell.'" He kneels down next to Collin. "Welcome, my friend."


End file.
